Friday, July 30, 2021
GIVE
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
SWAYBACK
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
OLD MAN
Monday, July 26, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (60)
Sunday, July 25, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (25)
YOU WAIT
You wait long enough,
the wind comes again,
the old monk says.
That's patience.
~
WHAT LETS YOU
What lets you
fall so far
down is what
lifts you up,
the old monk
promised.
~
IF YOU SPEND
If you spend your time
talking like a monk
people might think that
you are a monk,
the old monk said,
but he didn't mean
to sound like that.
~
THAT PARALLEL
That parallel
universe --
it's right here.
Touch it,
the old monk said.
~
AT SUCH A MOMENT
At such a moment
it all lets go,
the old monk says,
let go with it.
~
THE SHADOWS
The shadows that went
up the mountain
this morning are
coming down tonight,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU COULD BE
If you could be
both and neither,
the old monk said,
you would be the one.
~
I KNOW IT
I know it,
the old monk said.
Sometimes I just
don't see it,
I don't say it.
~
THIS IS THE WAY
This is the way
it'll work,
the old monk said.
You show me
you can fly,
you can have
the job.
~
DON'T WRITE IT
Don't write it down
if you think it's
important,
the old monk said.
Live it.
~
I COULD GIVE YOU
I could give you
a good deal,
the old monk said,
but then you might
think you cheated.
~
Friday, July 23, 2021
ENOUGH MOON
Thursday, July 22, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (46)
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (45)
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (44)
Monday, July 19, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (43)
Sunday, July 18, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (24)
I CAN'T HELP IT
I can't help it:
evening goes to
darkness,
the old monk says.
The same goes
for darkness
going to morning.
~
IF YOU KEEP TURNING
If you keep turning
your back to the wind,
the old monk said,
people might think
you're a horse. Are you?
~
HOW MANY TIMES
How many times
will you carry it
up the mountain,
the old monk asked.
Lay your burden down.
~
IT'S NOT THE PRODUCT
It's not the product,
it's the process
I understand,
the old monk said.
~
I CAN'T TURN OFF
I can't turn off
the radio
and I can't
go to sleep,
the old monk
complained.
~
ONE PLACE
One place
or another,
it's always
somewhere,
the old
monk said.
~
THE OLD PINES
The old pines
in the moonlight,
the old monk says,
and the silence.
~
THIS
This.
Say it again.
This time,
let the moment
open,
the old monk said.
~
IF I COULD
If I could sell them to you
at a better price,
the old monk said,
do you think I would still be
living on the mountain?
~
WISDOM
Wisdom
is the emptinenss
of its silence,
the old monk said.
~
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (42)
If anyone owns this
empty house in the Sandhills
the wind won't let them keep it,
even with bricks on the roof
to hold down the shingles.
Saturday, July 17, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (41)
Friday, July 16, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (40)
Thursday, July 15, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (39)
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (38)
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (37)
Monday, July 12, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (36)
Sunday, July 11, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (23)
THEY'RE BOOKS
They're books. My books,
the old monk said.
I have to give them
to somebody.
Let me give them
to you. Think kindling.
Say thank you.
~
THIS SOLITUDE
This solitude,
the old monk thinks,
it's enough
for all day.
~
YOU ALWAYS WANT
You always want
what you say
to make sense
almost,
the old monk said.
Oops, I've told
too much.
~
IF YOU KEEP
If you keep
following yourself,
you'll walk
in circles,
the old monk says.
~
NO, NOT REALLY
No, not really.
It's never been
about money.
What I've wanted,
the old monk said,
you should know
by how I've lived.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes,
the old monk said,
I don't know
what I've said
until twelve
days later.
~
SOMETIMES WHEN I TALK
Sometimes when I talk,
the old monk said,
what you hear is
not wisdom but
wind in the pines.
~
WHAT THE WIND DOES
What the wind does,
it does
on the way down,
the old monk says.
On the way up,
it's flying.
~
IN THE MIRROR
In the mirror
my bullet eyes
look back at me.
I retreat,
the old monk says.
~
THERE ARE THINGS
There are things you know
you do not say.
There are things you say
you do not know,
the old monk said.
Both of these will
get you in trouble.
~
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (35)
Saturday, July 10, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (34)
Friday, July 09, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (33)
Thursday, July 08, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (32)
Wednesday, July 07, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (31)
Tuesday, July 06, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (30)
Monday, July 05, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (29)
Sunday, July 04, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (22)
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't leave it,
the old monk said
there's no way
you'll get it back.
~
IF IT'S NOT
If it's not as intense
as it needs to be,
the old monk says,
you're not far enough
up the mountain.
Keep climbing.
~
WHEN SOMEONE
When someone makes
that kind of promise
they're hiding something,
the old monk said.
Don't make the deal.
~
IF YOU CARRY IT
If you carry it
up the mountain,
the old monk said,
someone will
want to snatch it.
~
EVERYTHING
Everything you let go of
rolls down the mountain,
the old monk says.
That's what you've got to learn.
~
SOME OF YOUR WORDS
Some of your words
are empty,
the old monk
told his students.
Don't use them.
What is an empty
word, they asked.
It's when the cup
is broken, he said.
~
SOMETIMES I GO
Sometimes I go
all the way up
the mountain
before I figure
it out,
the old monk said.
Sometimes I don't
get it until
I'm coming down.
~
NIGHT IS ALWAYS
Night is always longer
when you live in a cave,
the old monk
told his students.
Don't be surprised by that.
~
WHEN YOU ACCEPT
When you accept
a gift, you are
making a promise,
the old monk said.
That's how it is.
You have to keep it.
~
CRICKET EVEN
Crickets even the evening,
the old monk said.
That's why we need them.
~
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (28)
Saturday, July 03, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (27)
Friday, July 02, 2021
NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (26)
