Thursday, June 30, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (238)
IT'S NOT THE WANTING
It's not the wanting
but the having
that weighs on us,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S A PRACTICAL MAN
It's a practical man
who will walk through walls,
the old monk says.
~
EVERYMAN
Everyman
is never just
any man,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (237)
THE TIME TO MAKE
The time to make the judgment
is not after it's over,
the old monk told the referees.
~
THE OLD MONK HAD
The old monk had a master
who thought he'd never get it.
His students know that.
~
THE DISAPPOINTMENT
The disappointment
is not in your wanting,
the old monk said.
It comes later.
~
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (236)
LOOK ABOUT
Look about --
there are poems
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
GOING TO SLEEP
Going to sleep is like
turning off the stars,
the old monk thought
as he went good-night,
or like turning them on.
~
ANYONE WHO
Anyone who wants to
can learn to do it
except for the part
about how to get down --
that takes practice,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, June 27, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (235)
HOW SLOW
How slow is fast
when you want to,
the old monk asked.
~
THESE THINGS
These things I teach,
my father knew
but didn't say,
the old monk said.
~
ACCEPTING DEATH
Accepting death
you trust the stars,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, June 26, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (73)
THE OLD MONK / TALKS
The old monk
talks like a farmer
but without
the wisdom,
the master said.
~
THE FARTHER YOU GO
The farther you go
the light stays longer,
almost until midnight,
the old monk said.
~
IF HE WANTS TO
If he wants to, he will,
the old monk said about the hermit,
to his students. Now,
don't be betting on it.
~
ISN'T YOUR UNHAPPINESS
Isn't your unhappiness
the last thing you want to give,
the old monk asked his students.
~
TIME'S UP
Time's up when we
run out of clocks,
the old monk told
his students.
~
IT'S A SLIPPERY
It's a slippery thing
and you've got to hold on,
getting a line of poetry,
the old monk said.
~
IF HE'S AN IRISH MONK
If he's an Irish monk
wouldn't he talk with a brogue,
his students asked his master.
~
ISN'T GRAVITY
Isn't gravity
like time trying
to hold the light,
the old monk asked
the physicist.
~
THINK OF IT LIKE
Think of it like
a piece of paper
with everything
printed on it,
the universe,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN'T UNDO
You can't undo
what you've not done,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (234)
CALCED OR
Calced or
discalced,
the mountain
doesn't care,
the old monk said.
~
THE STARS DON'T
The stars don't know
about death
until they go
up against it,
the old monk said.
~
EVEN AFTER
Even after
the lights go off,
the lights go on
down the hall,
the old monk
noticed.
~
Thursday, June 23, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (233)
YOU DON'T GET
You don't get
dressed up for
falling down
the mountain,
the old monk says.
~
YOU BELIEVE
You believe
you believe
but do you,
the old monk asked.
~
I'VE GOT NOTHING
I've got nothing
to do but sing
of sorrow
and preach,
the old monk
admitted.
~
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (232)
IF A DOOR
If a door swings open,
at least look in,
the old monk said.
~
TO COUNT IS
To count is why
you have ten fingers,
the old monk said.
That's basic arithmetic,
~
FLOWERS ARE
Flowers are
all about
sex,
the old monk
said. Think
about that,
the beauty
of it.
~
Monday, June 20, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (231)
YOU DON'T KNOW
You don't know you don't know,
and that makes you dangerous,
the old monk told his students.
~
THE EYES ARE
The eyes are one
way of seeing,
the old monk said.
~
THE WAY
The way is
the path you take
when no one's
looking,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, June 19, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (72)
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
I have to
look at it
upside down
to get it,
the old monk
admitted.
~
MAKING LOVE
Making love
is not always
about love,
the old monk said.
~
FRICTION IS
Friction is how you get started,
the old monk told the married couple.
~
THE MONK WHO CAN FLY
The monk who can fly --
you find him,
you keep him on speed-dial,
the old monk said.
~
TEN THOUSAND IS
Ten thousand is
hardly a start,
the old monk said
about counting stars.
~
IT'S LIKE STICKING
It's like sticking
the landing,
coming down
out of a poem
without a wobble,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
YOU SURE SPEND
You sure spend
a lot of time
thinking about poetry
when you should be
thinking about God,
the master told
the old monk.
~
YOU CAN'T SHARE
You can't share loneliness,
the old monk said.
~
ITS SHARPEST EDGE
Its sharpest edge
even cuts light,
the old monk said
about his knife.
~
SAY IT
Say it
and say it again --
it's no longer
silence,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (230)
YOU MIGHT HEAR
You might hear
the language
of your church,
but I am
a pagan monk,
the old monk said.
~
THE TRICK IS
The trick is
you have to do it
without looking,
the old monk said.
~
HE'S AN OLD MAN
He's an old man who chews his words,
they said about the old monk.
~
Saturday, June 18, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (229)
I COULD WRITE
I could write a whole book
about the emptiness of your reply,
the old told his student.
~
IF YOU CAN'T
If I can't see
the other bank
of the river,
is this the ocean,
the old monk asked.
~
SHE WHO FLIES
She who flies
has no fear,
like angels,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, June 17, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (228)
THE WIND IS
The wind is writing
the grasses' stories,
the old monk said.
The river writes
the cottonwoods'.
~
THE OLD MONK SAID
The old monk said:
Take one, any one.
They're all the same
except the ones
standing on their heads.
They're strange.
~
YOU START
You start a little late,
you'll get there faster,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, June 16, 2022
IN THE NEWS
Make them buy insurance
and pay compensation
like the rest of us --
that's how you handle
the gun nuts,
the old monk heard
the other man say.
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (227)
YOU DO
You do
what it does
when it does it
and when it
stops
you act like
you meant to,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WANT TO
You want to
leave out so much
it's enormous,
the old monk said
about the poem.
~
I USED TO BE
I used to be a god
and now I'm just an old man,
the old monk said.
It's all down-hill when
you're coming off the mountain.
~
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (226)
IT HAS TO
It has to
come undone
for you
to see what
holds it
together,
the old monk says.
~
WISDOM ISN'T
Wisdom isn't like
picking berries,
the old monk told
his students.
~
IT IS LIKE MERCY
It is like mercy
when the rain comes,
even on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, June 13, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (225)
THE OLD PINE
The old pine
trusts its friend
the wind,
the old monk says.
They've known
each other
a very long time.
~
IF I COULD
If I could
show you,
I would,
but it's not
that kind
of lesson,
the old monk
told his students.
~
IF YOU THINK
If you think too much
about it,
you'll think too much,
the old monk said
about his trick.
~
Sunday, June 12, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (71)
YOU CAN'T THREATEN
You can't threaten
someone who has nothing
and who wants nothing,
the old monk assured them.
~
HOW DO YOU
How do you get from
nowhere to nothing?
You follow directions,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES / WHEN
Sometimes
when the spirit
flies out of me
she really flies
out of me,
the old monk said
about ecstasy.
~
IF YOU COVER
If you cover your nakedness
what will I have to paint,
the old monk asked the model.
~
AH, YES
Ah, yes,
the universe
flies apart
because time
can't reverse,
the old monk said.
I understand
that now.
~
IF ALL YOU SEE
If all you see is darkness
you might need new glasses,
the old monk said.
~
NO ONE TELLS YOU
No one tells you not to,
only you do,
the old monk said.
~
ELEVENTY-SEVEN
Eleventy-seven
is more than
a handful,
the old monk said.
~
WILL BE IS
Will be is was
lickety-split,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN
If you can purr like a cat
you can fly like an angel,
the old monk told his students.
~
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (224)
I CAN'T REMEMBER
I can't remember
far enough back
to remember,
the old monk admitted.
~
HOW YOU DO
How you do it
without breaking?
You bend, you spring back,
the old monk said.
~
ALL THE NIGHT SOUNDS
All the night sounds
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
All the stars!
~
Saturday, June 11, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (223)
THE OTHER SIDE
The other side
of everything
is something,
the old monk says.
Nothing is
the other side
of nothing.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
even the wind
needs a friend,
the old monk learned
from the old pine.
~
EVENING KNOWS
Evening knows
what you did all day
and morning doesn't,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, June 09, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (222)
IT'S JUST
It's just a glancing blow
when the moon throws an elbow,
the old monk said about
life on the mountain.
~
THINK ABOUT IT
Think about it --
on the mountain
you walk around in sky
all the time, but just in
the lowest part of it,
the old monk said.
~
IS THAT WHAT
Is that what
you want them
to find, an old
monk dead, with
pen and paper?
Yes, the old
monk said.
~
Tuesday, June 07, 2022
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (221)
EVERYTHING I SAY
Everything I say
is nothing but wind,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU GET OUT
When you get out to the edge,
you can see how far you still have to go,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK KNOWS
The old monk knows
you can't bottle silence.
~
Monday, June 06, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (220)
SOMETIMES YOU REMEMBER
Sometimes you remember them,
sometimes they remember you,
the old monk says.
~
THE SUDDENNESS
The suddenness
of nothing
is a shock.
Practice it
slowly,
the old monk said.
~
HOPE IS LIKE
Hope is like
you hold the door open
and and wait for someone
to come through,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, June 05, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (70)
MORE OR LESS
More or less is about,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT THE MOUNTAIN ASKS
What the mountain asks
the mountain answers,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT WHIPS THE WIND
What whips the wind
is sky. The wind
whips the trees. It's
all downhill from there,
the old monk said.
~
NOTHING
Nothing
is less than
nothing,
the old monk
reminded them.
~
IT CAN BE
It can be
great or small,
depending on
how many,
the old monk said.
~
NOT EVERYTHING
Not everything
is something,
the old monk said.
~
TURN YOUR WORDS
Turn your words
so they turn
the meaning,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
ALWAYS LEAVE OUT
I always leave out a step
to see what they can figure out
for themselves,
the old monk said about teaching.
~
IF YOU THINK
If you think
that's what it's going to do,
that's what it's going to do,
the old monk said.
~
YOU HOLD THEM
You hold them
while you split them
tenderly,
like making love,
the old monk said
about cutting melons.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (219)
WHERE THE OFF
Where the OFF-switch is
at the edge of ON --
that sudden,
the old monk said.
~
LET THE QUIET
Let the quiet tell you
what the stars know,
the old monk said,
if it hasn't already.
~
I'VE FORGOTTEN
I've forgotten so often
I can't remember,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, June 04, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (218)
IF YOU CAN
If you can do the math,
you could fly too,
the old monk told
his students.
~
IF GIVEN
If given the choice,
come down the mountain
the slowest way
possible,
the old monk advised.
~
WHAT THE POEM
What the poem does
is lift,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
Friday, June 03, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (217)
EXPLAIN
Explain
how you'd
explain it,
the old monk
asked
the master.
~
THE THING ABOUT
The thing about language is
it leaves its sweetness
on a knife,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
I COULD PRETEND
I could pretend
to be a hermit,
but I'd need
a longer beard,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, June 02, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (216)
HOW MANY
How many can you lose
before you're lost,
the old monk asked them
about the maps.
~
HOLD TIGHT
Hold tight and wait,
it always does something,
the old monk said
about the contraption.
~
THANKFULLY
Thankfully
it isn't too often
there isn't enough,
the old monk said.
~
