Sunday, September 25, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (86)
SOMETIMES YOU SPLIT IT
Sometimes you split it
and they don't know
how much goes with
which part, but it keeps
the professors in business,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
I TELL MYSELF
I tell myself
the world's story
to understand it,
the old monk said.
~
SOME DAYS WE GET FAT
Some days we get fat
and some days we go lean --
it's up and down
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
A DARK SKY
A dark sky
marked with stars.
In the old pine
the spirits
are talking,
the old monk
reported.
~
JUST THROW THEM
Just throw them
anywhere.
No one cares
til it's time to
pick them up,
the old monk said.
~
PROMISING
Promising
to make no
promises --
how does that
work,
the old monk
wondered.
~
WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW
When you don't know
the question,
anyone can see you
an answer,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU MAKE ENOUGH
If you make enough
predictions,
some of them
will happen,
the old monk said.
~
THIRD ON A MATCH
Third on a match,
third past the rattlesnake --
you want to be
first or second,
the old monk said.
~
SOME OF THE THINGS
Some of the things you say
have your father's accent,
the master told the old monk.
~
