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.
~
