Monday, August 30, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (69)
Sunday, August 29, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (30)
THERE'S ALWAYS
There's always purple
at the edge of blue,
the old monk said,
sadness like shadow
in the silence.
~
IF THAT'S WHAT
If that's what you're going to do,
the old monk said,
you should probably get undressed.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want
to sleep, don't talk
to the moon,
the old monk said.
~
LIKE KNOWS
Like knows like,
the old monk said.
Maybe you can use that
to make a deal.
~
WHEN THE SKY
When the sky is blue
on the mountain,
the old monk said,
it may not be blue
in the valley.
~
IF YOU KNOW
If you know yourself,
the old monk says,
you know mountain
is mountain.
~
IF SOMEONE WANTS
If someone wants to
do that kind of thing
at this time of night,
the old monk said, you
might as well get up
and put your clothes on.
~
WHEN YOU GO
When you go --
yes, I'm talking about death --
just walk away,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THEY COME
When they come for you,
you will see angels,
the old monk said.
Trust them.
~
THE END
The end is
always nearer
than the end,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, August 27, 2021
SUDDEN-
Thursday, August 26, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (67)
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (66)
Monday, August 23, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (65)
Sunday, August 22, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (29)
ENOUGH MOON
Enough moon
you won't need
a flashlight,
the old monk
promised.
~
WHAT THE STARS
What the stars
will tell you,
you won't know
until you listen.
the old monk said.
~
HOW OFTEN
How often
do you get to do that,
the old monk asked,
rhyme so many words
in a single line?
~
SOMETIMES NOT
Sometimes not
what you say,
but saying it,
the old monk says.
~
EVEN THE LEFT-
Even the left-
handed poet
gets to get one,
the old monk said.
That's why I'm here.
~
DON'T EXPLAIN IT
Don't explain it,
the old monk said.
They've had their
lessons. They have
directions.
~
SOMETIMES WHAT
Sometimes what
you let go of
doesn't let go
but you don't
know that until
you do,
the old monk said.
~
ONE, TWO, OR THREE
One, two, or three things,
you can't think of
more than that,
the old monk said --
sex, food, money.
~
IT'S NOT
It's not the promise
you make,
the old monk said,
it's making
the promise.
~
WHERE DO YOU
Where do you find them,
they asked. The old monk
said, "Oh, here and there,
laying about. Try one."
~
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
A WHOLE EVENING
Sunday, August 15, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (28)
YOU DON'T ALWAYS
You don't always see
water out of rock,
the old monk said,
but you see it
on the mountain.
~
IF YOU PRACTICED
If you practiced more,
you wouldn't get so tired
when you fly,
the old monk told them.
~
SOMETIMES NOT
Sometimes not
even emptiness
fills the silence,
the old monk said.
~
A PROMISE
A promise
is like a kiss
they get to keep,
the old monk said.
~
THIS IS WHAT
This is what
I trained for,
the old monk said,
to be here,
saying these things.
~
I DON'T WANT TO
I don't want to
say so much that
it gets crowded
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WON'T HAVE TO
You won't have to
tell us the color
of the light you're
walking into,
the old monk said.
~
DEATH IS LIKE THAT
Death is like that,
a NASA project leaving the solar system,
entering interstellar space,
the old monk said.
~
I COULD GIVE YOU
I could give you
all of them,
the old monk said,
but you still wouldn't
have enough. You
won't ever think
you have enough.
~
YOU DON'T KNOW
You don't know
if they're coming,
then they do,
the old monk said.
That's what makes
the party so fun.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (64)
Friday, August 13, 2021
GOOD-BYE
Sunday, August 08, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (27)
YOU KNOW
You know south of here
is north of somewhere,
the old monk said.
~
SOME NIGHTS
Some nights, stars.
Some nights, not
so many,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE DISTANCE
In the distance,
the distance,
the old monk said.
You can almost
see it.
~
HOLD ON
Hold on
or let go,
the old monk said.
Either way,
we're falling.
We always
were.
~
SOMEONE WANTS
Someone wants
what you don't have
and there's nothing
you can do
about it,
the old monk said.
~
SOMEONE KEEPS
Someone keeps talking
even after
the old monk has
gone to sleep.
~
IF I THINK
If I think
I eat, I eat,
the old monk says.
If I think
I'm hungry,
I am.
~
WHAT IT DOES
What it does
or doesn't do
is what it does,
the old monk noted.
You can't fix that.
~
IF WHAT YOU WANT
If what you want
is love,
the old monk said,
don't be
making deals
to find it.
~
IT'S NOT SO MUCH
It's not so much the pain
as going backwards
up the mountain,
the old monk said
about his predicament.
~
Wednesday, August 04, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (63)
Tuesday, August 03, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (62)
Monday, August 02, 2021
THE WAY IT SETTLES
Sunday, August 01, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (26)
MOON IS TO
Moon is to
moonlight as
paper is to
poem,
the old monk said.
~
HOW FAR
How far can you go
before you lose
the mountain,
before the mountain
loses you,
the old monk wondered.
~
WHAT SOMEONE OFFERS
What someone offers you
is not what they're offering,
the old monk says.
~
WHAT IS THAT WAY
What is that way
seems that way,
the old monk says.
It can't be otherwise.
~
HURRY
Hurry
and you fall
farther behind,
the old monk says.
~
IF I COULD
If I could play
basketball,
do you think
I'd be a monk,
the old monk
asked them.
~
HALF A DOZEN
Half a dozen
is a long way
to saying six,
the old monk says.
~
IF YOU KEEP
If you keep
listening,
the old monk said,
you will figure
it out, the
silence.
~
THE QUESTION IS
The question is,
the old monk says,
how much do you
have to want
before you have
enough?
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (61)
