Thursday, December 30, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (92)
BEGINNING
Beginning,
middle,
end -- it
doesn't
matter
where,
the old
monk said.
You just
need to
be there.
~
INSOMNIA
Insomnia,
the old monk said,
that which is
when sleep is
perchance.
~
HE DOESN'T KNOW
He doesn't know
he knew that,
the old monk said.
Don't tell him.
~
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (91)
AH, SUNSET
Ah, sunset.
Sometimes light
makes its own
deal with night,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THEY SPEAK
When they speak to me
they tell their stories,
the stars,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES THE BRONC-BUSTER
Sometimes the bronc-buster
breaks them and sometimes
he gets broke,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (91)
IT'LL BE
It'll be
what you want
it to be
until no one
else wants it,
the old monk says.
~
WHAT CAN YOU KNOW
What can you know
if you don't know the stars,
the old monk asked him.
The physicist said,
I'm more theoretical than that.
~
COULD HE BE
Could he be
stranger
if he's already
a stranger,
the old monk
wondered.
~
Sunday, December 26, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (47)
DON'T SAY
Don't say six
when you mean
half a dozen,
the old monk said.
~
I AM NOT
I am not
expressing myself,
the old monk told
the poet.
I am expressing
the universe.
~
LIKE PHOTOGRAPHY
Like photography
poetry is
about waiting
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES / ONE IS
Sometimes
one is
lonely
where only
one is,
sometimes
in a crowd,
the old monk said.
~
LOVE AND
Love and loss
are twin sisters,
the old monk said.
~
NOT EVERYTHING
Not everything
is something --
some of it
is nothing,
the old monk said.
~
LIKE AN OWL
Like an owl
taking a bat
out of the air,
death is
that sudden,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't know
what to say,
don't say that,
the old monk said.
~
PAINT LIPS
Paint lips on
all the great
monuments --
now that would
be art,
the old monk said.
~
IN SOME SCALES
In some scales
E-flat is where
C wants to go,
the old monk
told the band.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (90)
SO MUCH
So much
that I would
like to
but not enough
that I can,
the old monk
complained.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
he understands
he doesn't
understand,
the old monk said.
Sometimes
he doesn't.
~
SOMETIMES I'M LUCKY
Sometimes I'm lucky
to find my way to breakfast,
the old monk admitted.
~
Saturday, December 25, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (89)
THE LESSONS
The lessons of a good poem
lie beyond its boundaries,
the old monk said to the poet.
~
HOW MUCH HEAVEN
How much heaven
can we stand?
Even the stars
don't know,
the old monk says.
~
IF YOU DON'T WAIT
If you don't wait for it to close,
you won't get your shirt caught,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, December 24, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (88)
COHERENCE
Coherence does not inhere in life.
You have to make up the narrative,
the old monk said.
~
THE MEASUREMENT
The measurement
is not that which
measures, not
the thing measured,
the old monk says.
It's what you're left
with when you're done
trying to make sense.
~
IN THE POEM
In the poem some pattern
must repeat, or seek to.
That's what, in the moment,
keeps us from death,
the old monk told the poet.
~
Thursday, December 23, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (87)
YOU HAVE ALREADY
You have already thought
what you are thinking
when you think it,
the old monk says.
~
IF LANGUAGE
If language
could be pure
enough to
say what we
see, we could
tell the truth.
Alas,
the old monk said.
~
A POEM IS NOT
A poem is not
some chaos, but
an organization
you haven't yet
come to understand,
the old monk told
the student
who complained.
~
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (86)
YOU WILL HAUL
You will haul
both the beautiful
and the sublime
up the mountain
in a small, red
wheelbarrow,
the old monk says.
They come as a set.
~
IF YOU SEE
If you see
God on the mountain
you will not
come back to us,
the old monk said.
~
THE MOUNTAIN
The mountain
is still
the mountain
when it
goes still,
the old monk says.
~
Monday, December 20, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (85)
THEY COME BECAUSE
They come because
they want to,
all those sounding
in the darkness,
the old monk says.
~
YOU CAN KNOW
You can know
only so much
before the stars
give out,
the old monk says.
~
THE MOUNTAIN
The mountain
touches the sky
at the moment
the sky
touches the mountain,
the old monk said.
That's how love is.
~
Sunday, December 19, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (46)
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't leave
your hometown
you remain only
the sum of
what you've done,
the old monk says.
~
THE THINGS WE SAID
The things we said --
how dumb we were,
the old monk thought.
~
IF YOU TAKE
If you take it outside
you have to pay a fee
to get it back in,
the old monk warned them.
~
TOMORROW
Tomorrow
is never
tomorrow --
it can only
be today,
the old monk says.
~
THE RAIN
The rain --
like God
loving us,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT'S AFTER
What's after where the end is,
the old monk asked,
speaking to the universe.
~
YOU WERE ALREADY
You were already there
in that first moment
of the Big Bang,
the old monk said.
The stars knew you then.
~
WHEN I'VE FILLED
When I've filled
the emptiness
with poems,
I'll be done,
the old monk said.
~
WHO PUT YOU
Who put you
here,
in this moment,
for what --
answer that,
the old monk
told his students.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want to,
why don't you --
you've got every
excuse in the book,
the old monk told
a student.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (84)
EXPLAINING
Explaining
yourself
to yourself
is beyond
explaining,
the old monk says.
~
Is it,
the old monk asked.
Are you sure?
~
YOU CANNOT TURN
You cannot turn
straight away,
the old monk says.
~
Saturday, December 18, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (83)
THE LAST ONE
The last one always
knows where the end is,
the old monk says.
~
HOW FAR OFF
How far off is it
when it's that far off,
the old monk asked them.
~
THEY DON'T COME
They don't come
one at a time,
they come
in bunches,
these odd notions,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, December 17, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (82)
WE DREAM
We dream
because sleep alone
is not enough,
the old monk said.
~
I DON'T SAY MUCH
I don't say much
when I'm done talking.
Be like that,
the old monk told
his students.
~
YES, I'VE NOTICED
Yes, I've noticed,
the old monk said,
the younger they are,
the later they come home
the next morning.
~
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (81)
YOU CAN MAKE
You can make
a deal with
the devil
or you can
listen to me,
your choice,
the old monk said.
~
A DOZEN
About a dozen may not
be as many as twelve
if you're not counting
when you're buying,
the old monk says.
It's seldom more
when you're selling.
~
IF I WERE YOUNGER
If I were younger
I could show you how
I did it, because
then I'd remember,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (80)
SOMEONE
Someone will show you
if you don't show them first,
the old monk says.
~
EVERYTHING YOU WANT
Everything you want to say
is there,
if you listen to the stars,
the old monk said.
~
JUST WHAT I WANT
Just what I want
isn't all I want,
the old monk told
his master.
~
Monday, December 13, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (49)
WHEN YOUR SOUL
When your soul
needs some darkness
is when the devil
makes his offer,
the old monk said.
~
THEY WON'T KNOW
They won't know
it's poetry
until long after
I'm dead,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
AT THE END
At the end
you will want
more time.
Thing about
that now,
the old monk said.
~
A MAGICIAN'S TRICKERY
A magician's trickery
is not enough
when you're trying
to fool God,
the old monk said.
~
LOVE IS LIKE
Love is like
the sun rising,
a new day,
the old monk said.
~
WU IS NOT
Wu is not
the shaman
who only
stands between
man and god,
the old monk said.
~
THE GODS BLESS
The gods bless
the emptiness
that we might
find ourselves
in it,
the old monk said.
~
THERE CAN BE
There can be
no cause
is there is
no before --
hence, the
universe
springs from
nothing,
the old monk said.
~
TRUE, YOU CAN'T
True, you can't
go to heaven
without first
going through hell,
the old monk said.
And you can't
go through hell
without hope
chasing you.
~
SOME OF US
Some of us
are bees and
some are flowers.
Some of us
are hawks and
some are mice,
the old monk said.
The best of us
are both.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (79)
GOSSIP
Gossip
isn't actually
what gossip
is,
the old monk says.
It's emptiness
masquerading
as meaning.
~
FAILURE
Failure goes
but it doesn't
go far,
the old monk said.
~
Everything
you promise yourself
is coming,
the old monk says,
but check the bill
of lading.
~
Sunday, December 12, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (45)
THE END COMES
The end comes
when it all
begins again,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN'T
If you can't fly,
at least get
out of the way,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES THE DARKNESS
Sometimes the darkness
helps you see,
the old monk said.
~
BE SWEETGRASS
Be sweetgrass
or be the wind,
the old monk told
his students.
~
WHEN THE STARS
When the stars
speak, listen
and take notes,
the old monk says.
~
DON'T WAIT
Don't wait
for the end
until the end,
the old monk advised.
~
PROMISE THEM
Promise them nothing
until they stop coming back,
the old monk advised.
~
I DON'T KNOW
I don't know
what to think
and still
the sun goes down,
the old monk
realized.
~
THAT'S RIGHT
That's right,
the old monk said,
anarchy
is not chaos.
~
WHEN THE SILENCE
When the silence
finally finds you,
don't speak to it,
the old monk says.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (78)
HOW THE OLD
How the old
monk's hut is --
you have to go
all the way around
the outside to
get inside.
~
WHERE THE WORLD
Where the world
is that way
that's the way
the world is,
the old monk said.
~
THE LAST ONE
The last one
to let go
always has
someone
to land on,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, December 11, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (77)
YOU CAN RUN AROUND
You can run around
holding the pail
to catch the rain, or
you can set it
in the yard, your choice,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK THINKS
The old monk thinks
he's trying to say
what he thinks,
the students say.
~
LATER IS
Later is
always late,
the old monk says.
~
Friday, December 10, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (76)
IT'S THE OLD MONK'S
It's the old monk's trick,
the old monk said --
you don't know how to
do it until you do.
~
IF THIS WERE
If this were wisdom,
wouldn't they already
be selling what I say,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S THE STUDENTS
It's the students
I teach
who teach,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, December 09, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (75)
IF I WAS SMART
If I was smart enough
to do that,
do you think I'd be
doing this,
the old monk
asked them.
~
INDEED, THE BEAT
Indeed, the beat
goes on,
the old monk said.
Listen!
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
I have to cross
to the other side
of the street
to avoid what
I'm thinking,
the old monk says.
~
Wednesday, December 08, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (74)
IF YOU OPEN IT
If you open it
as far as you can
open it,
you'll close it,
the old monk said.
~
YOU DON'T ALWAYS
You don't always notice,
the old monk said,
but sometimes nobody's
driving the bus.
~
YOU DON'T HAVE TO
You don't have to
push
if it's pulling,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (73)
YOU THINK
You think by my age
you'll figure it out
but you won't,
the old monk said.
~
LIFE IS
Life is
the tiny particle
between great chunks
of nothing,
the old monk says.
~
ONE AND
ONE and
THREE and
is what he's
saying with
the brushes,
the old monk
said about
the drummer.
~
Monday, December 06, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (72)
NOT WANTING IT
Not wanting it
means you can have it,
the old monk says.
Things come out
backwards like that.
~
THE OLD MONK / TALKS
The old monk
talks himself out of
talking.
~
THINK TOO MUCH
Think too much
about it,
you'll lose it.
Best to just
leave it
on the table,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, December 05, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (44)
THAT'S NOT
That's not the lunch bell --
it's time for silence,
the old monk told
the visitors.
~
YOU DON'T KNOW
You don't know
where he is
when the old
monk is on
the mountain,
and you don't
want to know.
~
HOW MANY CORNERS
How many corners
does a four-cornered
box have,
the old monk asked.
This is a trick
question.
~
IT'S LIKE WRITING
It's like writing with silver
ink when the good ones come,
the poems,
the old monk said.
~
IF I START
If I start to write
in short-hand, no one
will ever know it,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
IT DOESN'T MEAN
It doesn't mean what it means
when I say it,
the old monk complained.
~
THE SKY TAKES
The sky takes
only what
the earth allows,
the old monk said.
~
ALL THE SILENCE
All the silence
of the silence --
that much emptiness,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S THE LETTING GO
It's the letting go
not the getting loose
you want,
the old monk told
his students.
~
EVERY MOMENT
Every moment
is every moment --
it's not as if
they're separate,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (71)
IN ALL THINGS
In all things
it's not
the putting it
to it
that does it,
but the moving
it about,
the old monk
explained.
~
DON'T TAKE
Don't take so much
you can't carry it,
the old monk said.
That's too much.
~
WHAT YOU LOSE
What you lose
at the crossroads
you won't make up
for with tips,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, December 04, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (70)
HOW MUCH
How much
does what
you can
do help
what you
can't do,
the old
monk asked.
~
NOT RIGHT NOW
Not right now
but soon,
the old monk said,
is patience.
~
GRACE WILL NOT
Grace will not
save us
when we love
sin so much,
the old monk
says, and we do
love sin.
~
Friday, December 03, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (69)
ONLY A FEW
Only a few
should be enough,
the old monk said,
if you don't waste them.
~
SOMETIMES SILENCE
Sometimes silence
is the blessing,
the old monk said.
Sometimes it's
a friend's voice.
~
IF THERE ARE
If there are
no stars
in that
parallel
universe,
the old monk said,
what do they
wish upon?
~
Thursday, December 02, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (68)
IT'S LIKE YOU'RE
It's like you're carrying
a heavy box, this holiness,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH
How much does it
hurt to wait,
the old monk asked.
That's how much
you want it.
~
AND YOUR ANGELS
And your angels
shall gather round,
then together
you shall fly.
That's they way
the take you,
the old monk said.
~
