Monday, January 31, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (120)
IT'S DIFFERENT
It's different than
what I remember,
he told the old monk.
It always is,
the old monk said.
~
HOW FAR
How far
up the mountain
do you go
before you are
up the mountain,
the student asked
the old monk.
~
THERE IS PLENTY
There is plenty of room
in an empty hut,
the old monk said.
Plenty of room.
~
Sunday, January 30, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (52)
STARS AT THE EDGE
Stars at the edge
of the universe --
bad luck of the draw,
the old monk said.
~
I SAY
I say
what I say,
the old monk
repeated.
~
HE KNOWS
He knows
how it ends
when he
begins,
God does,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU COULD
If you could
write all night,
would you,
the old monk asked
the poet.
~
THE LAST THING
The last thing you want is
often the first thing you get,
the old monk said.
~
DON'T BELIEVE
Don't believe in miracles
and you won't be disappointed,
the old monk said.
~
THE UNIVERSE IS
The universe is
somewhat like
Antarctica,
the old monk said.
You know it's there,
but you don't know
much about it.
~
IF YOU CAN GET IT
If you can get it
off the ground
you better hope
it has good
suspension,
the old monk said.
~
I'LL SET IT DOWN
I'll set it down and
wait til you're ready
is what you say
to a mule,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S LIKE SEEING
It's like seeing a dead man,
reading bad work by a mentor,
the old monk told the poet.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (119)
SOMETIMES / THE HAIR
Sometimes
the hair to be split
is too fine
and you end up with
a mess like this,
the old monk said.
~
WAIT
Wait.
Someone will ask
what can you do.
Just show them,
the old monk said.
~
THAT'S THE TRICK
That's the trick,
waiting,
the old monk said.
It takes patience.
~
Saturday, January 29, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (118)
THERE'S ONLY ONE SONG
There's only one song
and there's only
one way to sing it,
the old monk said.
He wasn't talking
just about music.
~
I DO EVERYTHING
I do everything
I need to
by doing what
I want to,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN'T
If you can't say it
the other way around,
it must be true,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, January 28, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (117)
THE KIND OF DEAL
The kind of deal
you want to make
is not the kind
the devil wants,
the old monk said.
Don't go down
to the crossroads.
~
I CAN'T IMAGINE
I can't imagine
imagination,
the old monk said.
I'm more straight-
forward than that.
~
WHAT DOES LIGHT
What does light
know of the darkness,
the old monk asked.
It has never
found it.
~
Thursday, January 27, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (116)
IF THAT'S THE WAY
If that's the way it is,
how was it was,
the old monk asked.
~
ON A SCALE
On a scale of
Monday to Sunday,
the old monk asked,
how was today?
~
WHAT
What
the mirror
sees
isn't what
the mirror
shows,
the old monk says.
~
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (115)
WITH ALL THERE IS
With all there is
why are there so few
things I talk about,
the old monk wondered.
~
IF IT WERE
If it were simple,
I'd be simpler,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THEY LAND IT
When they land it,
you stop praying.
Why is that,
the old monk asked.
~
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (114)
WE COULD MAKE IT
We could make it
look old like that,
they told the old monk,
but we'd have to
charge you extra.
~
MUCH MORE THAN
Much more than five lines
you start to bore me,
the old monk told the poet.
~
IF THEY WANT
If they want everything
they won't be happy
with anything,
the old monk says.
~
Monday, January 24, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (113)
ALL OR NONE
All or none,
want some
of neither,
the old monk
advised
~
I WORRY
I worry that
when the stars
go silent
it means it's
time to die,
the old monk said.
~
IT DID IT
It did it.
It could do it
again,
the old monk said.
There's no warning
the second time.
~
Sunday, January 23, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (51)
WHEN YOU TOUCH
When you touch
what God touches
you come home
charged,
the old monk said.
~
A GARAGE SALE
A garage sale
is no place to be
talking Jesus,
the old monk
admonished them.
~
SOMETIMES LIGHT
Sometimes light
is light and
sometimes light
just is,
the old monk said.
~
IF THE UNIVERSE
If the universe
doesn't ever
come back together,
does that disprove
gravity,
the old monk wondered.
~
OKAY, SO I DON'T
Okay, so I don't
believe the universe
can throw itself out
farther than it can
pull itself back,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU TAKE IT
If you take it
up the mountain,
take it down,
if you ever
go back down,
the old monk said.
~
THE BUSINESS
The business
of business
is money.
The business
of poetry
is not,
the old monk said.
~
THE ANIMAL
The animal you'll be
will come to you,
the old monk told
the shaman.
~
I CAN SAY
I can say things
you don't understand
and I can say things
I don't understand.
Can I say things
God will understand,
the old monk asked them.
~
THE ANGELS DON'T KNOW
The angels don't know the answers,
they only know the questions,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (112)
I KNOW, I KNOW
I know, I know,
the old monk said,
if you invite them in
you can't say stop
when they come.
~
IF IT'S THE ONLY
If it's the only
deal you can make
you're dealing
with the devil,
the old monk said.
~
POURING THE WINE
Pouring the wine
the old monk said,
I'd give you more
but I see how
much you spill.
~
Saturday, January 22, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (112)
YOU MAKE THE BEST
You make the best
kind of deal while
they're still taking
down the tent,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO
Sometimes you have to
play dead
from the beginning
and they call that
acting,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S NOT THAT
It's not that
it's wisdom,
it's that it sounds
like wisdom,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, January 21, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (111)
SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T
Sometimes you can't
get far enough
away to see it,
the old monk said.
~
IT IS MORE
It is more
than I want to see,
the eye of God,
looking,
the old monk said.
~
EVERYTHING HE SAYS
Everything he says
means what he says
and also means more,
they said about
the old monk.
~
Thursday, January 20, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (110)
I DON'T RESENT
I don't resent you,
the old monk told his students.
What else would I be doing?
~
WHAT
What
speaks to me
is silence,
the old monk said.
~
WE COULD PLAY
We could play this
kind of thing all night,
the old monk said
about the band.
We call it
hillbilly jazz.
~
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (109)
THERE ARE AS MANY
There are as many shades
of gray as you need, to find
the one to fit your sadness,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S ALL THE SAME
It's all the same
even when it's different,
the old monk heard
his students complain.
~
SOMEWHERE
Somewhere
on the mountain is
somewhere,
the old monk promised.
~
Monday, January 17, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (108)
IF YOU KEEP
If you keep driving like that
it's going to come around backwards,
the old monk warned the driver.
~
SIDEWAYS IS
Sideways is the way
coyote walks,
the old monk says.
Walk that way.
~
THAT NOISE
That noise you hear
waiting to fall
asleep? That's
the electricity
inside all of us,
the old monk said.
It's inside you.
~
Sunday, January 16, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (50)
SOMEWHERE SOMEONE
Somewhere someone is
shaking dice and moving us
around the game board,
the old monk said.
We're just plastic tokens.
He didn't always believe this.
~
NO ONE WATCHES
No one watches
the old monk
the way he watches
himself.
~
SOMETIMES YOU DRIVE
Sometimes you drive in the ditch
because you have to
and live to tell the story,
the old monk said. He wasn't
just teaching driving school.
~
NOT EVERYTHING
Not everything that flies
wants to, the wind says.
The old monk agrees.
~
THAT'S A TRICK
That's a trick you can do
if you practice -- put it
behind your back and have it
come out your front,
the old monk said.
~
THE ISLAND OF THE WIDE SUNSET
The Island of the Wide Sunset –
that's where I want to live,
the old monk said, but
I can't afford a house.
~
HOW MANY TIMES
How many times
must I say it
before you get it,
the old monk asked
the fencepost. Yes,
he was making
fun of himself.
~
ARE YOU SURE
Are you sure
you will find it --
the other side
of sky,
the old monk asked
the master.
~
WHEN THEY'RE LOOKING
When they're looking through
your suitcase, sometimes it's
only your dirty underwear
they will find,
the old monk said.
~
IF EVERYTHING
If everything
would be
what everything
is, it would
be easier
to explain,
the old monk
assured them.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (107)
YOU KEEP BETTING
You keep betting
even at the end,
the old monk said,
and you keep thinking
you're still going to win.
~
WHATEVER IT IS
Whatever it is
you think you want,
what you need is to learn
to say thank you,
the old monk said.
~
THE STARS ARE
The stars are
already conspiring
to make the next
universe,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, January 15, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (106)
I COULD SELL
I could sell it to you
for a dollar,
the old monk told
the miser, and
you'd still come back
asking don't it
come with attachments?
~
I WATCH IT
I watch it
from left to right
as it drifts across
the evening,
my sadness,
the old monk said.
~
IF FIVE
If five was noon,
the old monk said,
four would be
an hour before
and six one later,
and nobody would
know, I think, what
time is dinner.
~
Friday, January 14, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (105)
IF WHAT YOU WANT
If what you want
is more of it,
put your order
in sooner,
they told the old monk.
That's how it
usually works.
~
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
and the poet
were talking
about poets
and the old
monk said,
soon there'll
be so many
we won't have
enough readers.
And the poet
said that's not
a problem
for the poets.
~
HOW LONG DO YOU
How long do you
let it rot
before you eat it,
the old monk asked
the vulture.
The vulture
said I wait til I'm
good and hungry.
~
Thursday, January 13, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (104)
EVEN A SINGLE
Even a single star
is enough some nights,
the old monk said.
~
DON'T PUT MUSIC
Don't put music
in the middle of it,
the old monk said.
You'll never get it
straightened out.
~
IF THEY LAND IT
If they land it,
the old monk says,
don't complain if
it's a little bumpy.
~
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (103)
YOU DON'T
You don't
want to
but you
do it --
duty,
the old
monk says.
~
IF YOU SAY
If you say that's
just a dollar,
someone will think
it's a deal
and will take it,
the old monk says.
~
WHEN YOU SAY
When you say
you've crossed that bridge,
does that mean
you can't go back,
the old monk asked.
~
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (102)
A CREEK
A creek
does not creak,
it babbles,
the old monk said
with a smile.
~
YOU GO BACK
You go back
however far
you want to,
the old monk says,
you'll see it's
no different
except maybe
the stars have moved.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
what takes us
is wind and sun
and at night
the God-damn stars,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, January 10, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (101)
YOU DO THAT
You do that
and you keep
doing that
and you don't
get annoyed,
there's something
the matter,
the old monk said.
~
YES, I CAN
Yes, I can
be in the desert
and be on the mountain
and be in America --
does that surprise you,
the old monk asked.
~
WHEN YOUR WAGON
When your wagon
makes that creaking sound
you're fully loaded,
the old monk told
the new driver.
~
Sunday, January 09, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (49)
ONCE YOU'VE ACHIEVED
Once you've achieved
feather status
you do not fall
off the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WHO DO NOT
You who do not
master the spirits
will be possessed
by them, an outcome
not to be desired,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU LOVE IT
If you love it, love it,
but expect to get caught,
the old monk says.
~
HE DON'T KNOW
We don't know
who he is --
he comes around
and preaches,
they said about
the old monk.
~
IF THE OLD MONK
If the old monk
had a girlfriend
you'd never know it.
~
WHY MAKE ALL THESE
Why make all these
deals with God when
you don't know that
he'll keep them,
the old monk asked.
Don't you have
another choice?
~
WHEN THE CRICKETS
When the crickets come out,
let the drinking begin,
the old monk said.
~
I CAN'T BELIEVE
I can't believe
what I won't tell you,
the old monk said.
~
LEAVE THE DEVIL'S WORK
Leave the devil's work
to the devil,
unless you can't,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THE UNIVERSE
When the universe
stops there'll be
a mighty silence,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (100)
I DO THIS DEAL
I do this deal
and I do it again,
flour, and sugar, and rice,
the old monk says.
It seems so simple,
and still I forget --
flour, and sugar, and rice.
~
IF YOU THINK
If you think
life is for
the getting there
and not the going
you are in for
disappointment,
the old monk says.
~
HE'S GOING TO BE
He's going to be going
but we don't know when,
the master said
about the old monk.
~
Saturday, January 08, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (99)
JUST ABOUT
Just about enough
is enough,
the old monk said.
You'll know that
when you know.
~
THIS IS THE PERFECT PLACE
This is the perfect place
to hide from God,
the old monk said.
On this mountain
you make your heaven.
~
IF WE ONLY KNEW
If we only knew
what the darkness knows
we wouldn't spend
any time sinning,
the old monk says.
~
Friday, January 07, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (98)
ALMOST WISDOM
Almost wisdom,
the master said before
he dismissed it,
the old monk's poem.
~
PAST OR PRESENT
Past or present
is not tomorrow
until tomorrow,
the old monk said.
~
I DON'T KNOW
I don't know how
he does that --
it's like he lays
down and dies
and leaves these
grease-stained poems,
the student said
about the old monk.
~
Thursday, January 06, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (97)
SOMETIMES IT FEELS
Sometimes it feels
like I'm painting
the Sistene Chapel,
writing these poems
under the stars,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU GIVE
If you give away
what you have,
how do you eat,
they asked
the old monk.
He said, that's
not the question.
~
EVERYONE WANTS
Everyone wants
what
everyone wants,
the old monk says.
The trick is
to find it.
~
Wednesday, January 05, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (96)
IT'S HARDER TO
It's harder to give
up when your coming
down the mountain,
the old monk says.
~
HOW LONG CAN IT
How long can it
go on? It goes on
as long as it can,
the old monk said.
It always does.
~
SOMETIMES IT'S
Sometimes it's
as if you can hit
the ground hard
and you're dying,
the old monk said.
You still get up.
~
Monday, January 03, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (95)
ONE MORE
One more, or two,
or six, what
does it matter,
the old monk asked.
Who's keeping score?
~
AND THAT WAS
And that was
the revelation --
the old monk
only had his
own worn sack
to carry up
the mountain.
~
YOU HAVE TO
You have to
carry down
what you
carry up,
the old monk
said. You
can't leave it
on the mountain.
~
Sunday, January 02, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (48)
IT MIGHT SOUND
It might sound slower
but a waltz is
actually faster,
the old monk
told the band.
~
HOW YOU ASK
How you ask
the question is half
the answer,
the old monk said.
~
HALF OF
Half of doing it
is wanting to,
the old monk said.
~
HOPE IS NOT
Hope is not
a strategy,
they say in
football. They
say it in
life, too,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU KNOW
When you know
why you want it
you don't really
need it,
the old monk said.
~
IMAGINE
Imagine a universe,
the old monk said.
That's what God
is doing.
~
THERE IS
There is
no sound
in space
until
it hits
something,
the old monk said.
~
PLAY IT SWEET
Play it sweet
and try not to gain
are the last things to think
before we start,
the old monk told the band.
~
NO, YOU CAN'T
No, you can't add
a whaling expedition
just because you
need a transition,
the old monk told
the author.
~
IT'S THE OLD THINGS
It's the old things
you remember
when you can
remember things,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (94)
YOU BREAK IT
You break it,
it's broken,
that's always
the order,
the old monk
told them.
~
IT WAS ALWAYS
It was always
where you find it,
the old monk says.
~
THEY WAIT
They wait
for an answer
but don't know
the question,
the old monk
complained.
~
Saturday, January 01, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (93)
IF I COULD
If I could see
what is obvious,
I wouldn't have
these problems,
the old monk says.
~
YOU FIND
You find the edge
of the wind right
where it ripples,
the old monk says.
You can almost
taste the sand.
~
ELEVEN
Eleven is about
and thirteen
is a baker's.
That's close enough,
the old monk said.
~
