Tuesday, August 30, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (297)
WHERE THE LIGHT
Where the light
comes in --
go there,
the old monk said.
That's the window.
If you can't
see out, it gets
pretty lonely.
~
YOU CAN LOOK
You can look into it,
but never touch the fire,
the old monk told
the visiting spirits.
~
THINK HOW LONG
Think how long
you get to love
what you love,
the old monk said,
then you die.
~
Monday, August 29, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (296)
SOMETIMES YOU DON'T
Sometimes you don't
make friends.
Sometimes friends
make you,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN EVERYTHING
When everything
starts going backwards
you know the end
is near,
the old monk said.
~
IF EMILY
If Emily was nobody,
who are you,
the old monk
asked himself.
~
Sunday, August 28, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (82)
CLARITY IS
Clarity is knowing
all I want is this,
the old monk said.
~
TOO MANY BLESSINGS
Too many blessings
is a burden,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU CAN'T
When you can't give it away
you have to eat it yourself,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT MY BODY
What my body
is doing is
coming undone,
the old monk said.
~
YOU THINK YOU CAN
You think you can
make it better,
you mark it.
That's a second,
the old monk said.
~
QUALITY CONTROL
Quality control
is a low bar,
the old monk said.
~
AN ANGEL
An angel
on the mountain.
No one
notices,
the old monk said,
except me.
~
NOW THEY'RE SAYING
Now they're saying
there are places
in the universe
the laws of physics
don't apply.
Good job, God,
the old monk said.
~
YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO
You always have to
when you can't --
that's the way you are,
the old monk told him.
~
THE POEM COMES
The poem comes
the way it comes,
sideways, sometimes,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (295)
SOMETIMES YOU WAIT
Sometimes you wait
and all that comes
is darkness,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU FIND
If you find
joy in what comes,
you will find
joy,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT YOU CHOOSE
What you choose is
your choice and
not your choice,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, August 27, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (294)
THE WORST
The worst contest
is the one you run
against yourself,
the old monk said.
~
SURPRISE YOURSELF
Surprise yourself,
the old monk said,
but don't fall
off the mountain.
~
YOU KNOW WHAT
You know what you stand for
when you stand for it,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE NEWS
Friday, August 26, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (293)
YOU'RE NEVER
You're never alone
when you're chanting,
the old monk told
his students.
~
IT MATTERS
It matters
where you put
the accent,
so everyone knows
where we are,
the old monk told
the drummer.
~
PLAY THE CHILDBIRTH
Play the childbirth tape backwards,
that's like re-incarnation,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, August 25, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (292)
THIS IS HOW
This is how you do it,
the old monk told the poet,
you find one and push it
until you find another.
~
IF YOU'RE LEFT-
If you're left-handed
it's not like you're
upside down, you're
more sideways,
the old monk said.
~
NOT EVERYTHING
Not everything goes
the way you want
when anything goes,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE NEWS
If love were possible in Siberia
perhaps the Russians would be more peaceful,
the old monk speculated.
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (291)
IF I COULD
If I could say it,
the old monk said,
I wouldn't have to try
and find so many
ways to explain it.
~
YOU DO
You do a dozen
or fifteen hundred,
after while you
don't keep count,
the old monk told
the line boss.
~
ALL THE WAY
All the way up into
is how you get to heaven,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (290)
IF EVERYTHING
If everything you do
is nothing
nothing you do
is anything,
the old monk says.
~
IT'S NOT
It's not a contest,
the old monk told himself,
you're just trying to
write a poem.
~
A LARGE UNHAPPINESS
A large unhappiness
or many small ones --
what is your preference,
the old monk asked.
~
Monday, August 22, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (289)
ANY DAY
Any day
is a good day
for ice cream,
my father said
almost until
the day he died,
the old monk
told them.
~
IF WISDOM
If wisdom
is wisdom
what is
the wind,
the old monk
asked his
students.
~
IF THERE WAS
If there was
nothing before
how can there be
any after,
the old monk asked
the astronomer
about the Big Bang.
Perhaps God is
everything compressed
to nothing.
~
Sunday, August 21, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (81)
HE DOESN'T SAY
He doesn't say the most
and he doesn't say it the loudest,
but we always listen,
the students said about the old monk.
~
IF YOU'RE ON
If you're on
the edge and not
holding your breath
you're not
at the edge yet,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT IS DISTANCE
What is distance
but the horizon
leading us on,
the old monk asked.
~
SOMETIMES I HEAR
Sometimes I hear
the train whistle
in my bones,
the old monk said.
~
AS QUIET AS
As quiet as
an owl's feather,
the silence,
the old monk said.
~
THE MASTER EXPLAINED
The master explained
how to go home
and still the old monk
didn't get it.
~
IF YOU LAY DOWN
If you lay down
into the fire
you'll wake up
as ashes,
the old monk said.
~
WHY WOULD YOU
Why would you
ever think
you'd ever
think that,
the old monk asked
the student.
~
HEAVEN -- I BELIEVE
Heaven -- I believe
it is green shade
along the river,
the old monk said.
~
IF I'VE SAID IT ONCE
If I've said it once
I've said it
a thousand times --
silence,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (288)
JOHN CLARE
John Clare,
where
are you
when
I need you,
the old monk said.
~
STUDENTS
Students on the mountain
should be on the mountain
with their masters.
Their masters should
already be gone,
the old monk said.
~
YOU'RE AN OLD
You're an old man,
the old monk told himself.
It's okay to be wonky.
~
Saturday, August 20, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (287)
HOW MANY
How many languages can you speak
when you can't speak this one,
the old monk asked his silent student.
~
DO YOU WANT
Do you want to
die fast or
die slowly?
The answer
will tell you
how to live,
the old monk said.
~
WE LIKE
We like the rain,
we like the sun --
everything
in proportion,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, August 19, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (286)
THE OLD MONK SAID
The old monk said
enough, enough, enough --
he couldn't say more.
~
IF YOU THINK
If you think
you can carry
a woman
up the mountain,
you are not
ready to go,
the old monk said.
~
THEY COME IN
They come in that order
because that's the order they come in,
like rocks tumbling down the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, August 18, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (285)
SOME ARE SLEEPING
Some are sleeping
and some are
watching their business.
That's the way
cats are,
the old monk said.
~
THE WEARY ANGELS
The weary angels,
let them rest with you
in silence,
the old monk says.
~
SOMETIMES EMPTINESS
Sometimes emptiness
is the bucket we carry
and sometimes it's what
we carry the bucket to,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (284)
SOMETIMES YOU GET
Sometimes you get what you deserve
and sometimes you don't deserve what you get,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK'S / THEORY
The old monk's
theory of poetry:
write them all down,
let God sort it out.
~
THE EMPTINESS
The emptiness
is better than
nothing,
the old monk says.
~
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (283)
THERE IS NOTHING
There is nothing
I want to do
more than nothing,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT KIND
What kind of
emptiness
did you think
you'd find?
This is
the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
THAT BIT
That bit,
just beyond
the edge of
everything --
what is it,
the old monk asked.
~
Monday, August 15, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (282)
YOU JUST HAVE TO
You just have to sit
where you can hear him
and write it all down,
the old monk's student
told the novice.
~
THE WAY I DO
The way I do them
might surprise you,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
SOMETIMES I THINK
Sometimes I think the universe
is just getting wound up,
the old monk told the astronomer.
~
Sunday, August 14, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (80)
THE POET UNDERSTANDS
The poet understands
that there's that which
you can't understand
and he tries to say it,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WORRY
You worry
an awful lot
about poetry
for a holy man,
the master
told the old monk.
~
WHEN YOU'RE PREACHING
When you're preaching
they want you to tell the whole story
in one or two sentences.
When they're preaching,
that doesn't apply,
the old monk complained
about the other hermits.
~
WHAT'S ON THE MOUNTAIN
What's on the mountain
stays on the mountain --
except for the wind,
the old monk said.
~
GETTING OLD IS LIKE
Getting old is like
rotting on the vine
and death is like
heaven,
the old monk
told them at the end.
~
YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES
You close your eyes
and make them think
you're asleep --
that's the trick
to getting them quiet,
the old monk said.
~
ALL THOSE DEALS
All those deals
and not even
enough left
for a cup
of coffee --
why do you
do it,
the old monk asked.
~
NO ONE WANTS
No one wants the sadness
but everyone takes the love,
the old monk noticed.
~
YOU'RE LOOKING
You're looking for one
and a hundred show up --
it's hard times,
the old monk said.
~
EVERYTHING
Everything
that rubs off
leaves a smear
on the world
and the world
leaves a smear
on it,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (281)
DOING AS MUCH
Doing as much as you can
is as much as you can do,
the old monk said.
~
I GO TO ENOUGH
I've gone to enough doctors
I don't need to see another one,
the old monk said at the end.
~
LATE IS LATE
Late is late
until it's early,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, August 13, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (280)
MAYBE GOD
Maybe God is busy
on Sunday and you should
pray another day,
the old monk said.
~
WHERE YOU CRASHLAND
Where you crashland
is the last place
you want to be,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN THROW
If you can throw a cow
over the castle wall
you can have the job,
the old monk told
the applicant.
~
IN THE NEWS
Friday, August 12, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (279)
WHAT YOU NEED
What you need to settle
is yourself, and
not the argument,
the old monk said.
~
EVERY STAR
Every star
is someone else's
except this one,
the sun, it's ours,
the old monk said
with some affection.
~
I COULD GO ON
I could go on stage
and say these things
and they'd think it
was a show,
the old monk said,
particularly if
there was alcohol.
~
Thursday, August 11, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (278)
IF YOU ARE
If you are worried
about what the poem means
you are not worried
about the poem,
the old monk said.
~
A POEM IS
A poem is a room.
Here is the door.
Come in,
the old monk said.
~
A POEM
A poem is words
playing with each other,
the old monk says.
~
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (277)
IN WHAT UNIVERSE
In what universe
does God love us?
Not in this one,
despite what his
representatives
here will tell you,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU ARE
If you are
holy when
your time on
the mountain
is finished,
the old monk
tells his students,
you will go
to dwell in
the Sky House.
~
ONLY THOSE
Only those of you
who can fly can know
what the gods want,
the old monk reminded
his students.
~
Tuesday, August 09, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (276)
UNLESS YOU BE
Unless you be broken
you cannot be made whole
and you cannot touch God,
the old monk told his students.
~
THE SOUL BUZZES
The soul buzzes
like a bee
when it leaves
the body --
listen for it
when you die,
the old monk said.
~
YES, THAT STAR
Yes, that star
which does not
move some call
the Sky Nail, or
the Nail Star,
and it is
the stake to
which all Star
Horses are
tethered, the
old monk said.
IN THE NEWS
Monday, August 08, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (275)
HE ABOVE
He Above seldom comes
to our aid when we are
attacked by Kalau the Evil --
pray accordingly,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE DAYS
In the days
of Great Crow
all men could fly.
Now only
a few monks do,
the old monk said.
~
NO ONE ASCENDS
No one ascends
the mountain
by his own choice --
he must be
invited,
the old monk says.
~
Sunday, August 07, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (79)
DEATH IS
Death is
the last stage
of discipline,
the old monk said.
~
THE HARSH TRUTH
The harsh truth
is the last one
to get tested,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES SILENCE
Sometimes silence
is a djinn
in the desert,
the old monk said.
~
IT'LL WORK
It'll work that way
til the wheels come off,
the old monk predicted.
~
SOME NIGHTS
Some nights
I go all night
without talking
to the stars --
it doesn't
happen often,
the old monk said.
~
YOU PAINT YOURSELF
You paint yourself
into a corner
by thinking it,
the old monk said.
~
THE GLOW
The glow is what you want
when the light shines on you,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU'RE LOST
When you're lost in the woods
find the Grandmother Tree
and ask her to protect you,
the old monk advised.
~
THE FIRST ONE IN
The first one in
isn't always
the first one
to start work,
the old monk noted.
~
YOU WILL HEAR
You will hear the crickets
if you listen for them
and if you listen well enough
you'll learn their song,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, August 06, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (274)
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
will be there
when you need
him. Just call
out his name.
~
WHEN I WAS A WOLF
When I was a wolf
my language was difficult
to understand. These words
show that I am a man now,
the old monk said.
~
THE SUPREME GOD
The Supreme God
is Something.
The others range
from Anything
to Nothing
and none of them
are helpful,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, August 05, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (273)
When thunder speaks,
the old pine trembles,
the old monk said.
~
TO FIND YOUR WAY
To find your way
it is not enough
to know how to pray --
you must also know
how to fly,
the old monk told
his students.
~
WHEN THE MOON
When the moon comes
down to the mountain
the hermit speaks to God,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE NEWS
Thursday, August 04, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (272)
THERE IS NO TIME
There is no time
as you drum your
way to the sky.
Only the dead
speak for the dead,
the old monk says.
~
THEY CALL ME
They call me
the Man Who Flies
but I am instead
the One Who Prays,
the old monk said.
~
GOOD AND EVIL
Good and evil
are designations
like that of a river,
upstream and down,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, August 03, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (271)
WHAT YOU HOLD
What you hold onto
is what keeps you
from flying,
the old monk told
his new students.
~
THE OLD HERMITS
The old hermits
on the mountain
talk to the spirits.
At night, sometimes,
that's what your hear,
their moaning,
the old monk said.
~
THE MONK'S ROBE
The monk's robe
is only
for the monk.
No one else
can wear the
spirits stitched
into it.
~
Tuesday, August 02, 2022
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (270)
SOMETIMES THE ROOF
Sometimes the roof
of his hut opens
and the old monk is
lifted to the sky
where all the watchers
watch. Sometimes he
meets God. He does not
speak of this often.
~
SOME ON THE MOUNTAIN
Some on the mountain
do not know how to pray,
but only how to dance,
and God dances with them,
the old monk said.
~
THE MONK'S ROBE
The monk's robe,
yes, because
he does not do
ordinary work.
~
Monday, August 01, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (269)
IT IS NOT
It is not
that I want
to be holy,
it is that
I have
touched God,
the old monk said.
~
YOU GO UP
You go up the mountain
and ascend into the Presence
through a whole in the sky.
The Presence is like us
except it is light.
We are merely crystals.
When you come back to us
you will be filled with light.
This is what the old monk said.
This is what he believes.
~
TO BE LEFT-
To be left-
handed is
to be blessed,
the old monk says.
~
