Sunday, May 09, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (14)
YOU GET
You get all
the silence
you invite,
the old monk said.
~
DOES A MONK
Does a monk
ever know
that he's a saint,
they asked.
Does the mule
know that he's
half a jackass,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES THE TIGER
The old monk says,
sometimes the tiger
means business
and sometimes
you can pull his tail.
Don't get it wrong.
~
WHAT'S OVER
What's over the horizon,
the old monk says,
is not over its horizon.
~
HOW FAR ARE
How far are those
stars whose light
will never reach us,
the old monk wondered.
Farther than
imagination.
~
WHEN I SAY
When I say I know,
the old monk said,
I'm not saying
anything.
~
YOU WANT TO DEAL
You want to deal
with the devil,
the old monk said.
Go down to the crossroads.
He'll look like me.
~
STOP WEARING OUT
Stop wearing out the stars
trying to write all night,
the old monk told himself.
Do you think he listened?
~
I UNDERSTAND
I understand
how many places
I can stand
to be standing here,
the old monk said.
Every place.
~
THERE'S NOT SO MUCH
There's not so much
you can want
that you can't
want more,
the old monk
berated them.
~
