Monday, October 31, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (346)
WHEN YOU FIND
When you find your place
in the world, there is
nowhere else,
the old monk says.
~
IF THE PITCHER'S
If the pitcher's throwing curves
watch the inside corner --
there's a sweet one coming,
the old monk promised.
~
NEW YORK CITY
New York City is not
on the mountain
but it's not that different,
the old monk suggested.
~
Sunday, October 30, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (91)
ONLY WHEN I AM
Only when I am out of my body
am I totally within myself,
the old monk said.
This is the mystic's mystery.
~
IT'S NOT
It's not critiquing
to just say stop,
the old monk said.
~
YOU COULD REPORT
You could report
on your own funeral,
the old monk told
the Pulitzer Prize winner.
~
IF YOU WRITE BIGGER
If you write bigger,
do you think they will listen,
the old monk asked the poet.
~
IT TURNS
It turns
when it turns
if it turns,
the old monk said.
~
THE FRIEND WHO LAUGHS
The friend who laughs
is the best friend,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT YOU WANT
What you want
is always on
back order --
that's just how
it is,
the old monk said.
~
TO UNDERSTAND MOTIVATION
To understand motivation
ask why did the chicken
not cross the road,
the old monk said.
~
THE ONLY THING
The only thing
I have to sell you
are homely poems,
the old monk said.
~
HE HAS TO
He has to
break something
and fix it,
the old monk.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (345)
SOMETIMES WHEN
Sometimes when I fly
I can't remember landing,
the old monk said.
~
YOU GET OLD
You get old,
or you don't --
quit bitching,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU KNOW
If you know
what you don't know,
it's not too late
to learn,
the old monk says.
~
Saturday, October 29, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (344)
ALL THIS TIME
All this time I've been trying
to understand what the numbers mean,
the old monk said. They won't tell me.
~
GIVING AND RECEIVING
Giving and receiving,
the other end
of the same string,
the old monk says.
~
THE OLD MONK SAYS
The old monk says:
establish that
a dozen is
about twelve
and you can say
eleven donuts
in that dozen, ma'am?
That's about twelve.
~
Friday, October 28, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (343)
I DON'T GET IT
I don't get it --
it's like the numbers
make deals with
each other,
the old monk told
the mathematician.
~
THIS IS HOW
This is how
my people would talk,
if you would listen,
They talk like this,
the old monk said.
~
REAR END GOING
Rear end going
around the curve
first, that's not
how you should
be driving,
the old monk said.
You learn that
from experience.
~
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (342)
IF YOU KEEP WATCHING
If you keep watching yourself
you'll never get your business done,
the old monk said. And that
applies to all lines of work.
~
I MIGHT BE
I might be
left-handed,
the old monk said,
but I eat
with both.
~
I DON'T KNOW
I don't know
what good counting
does, but you seem
to enjoy it,
the old monk told
the accountant.
~
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (341)
SEEING HOW
Seeing how I did that,
that's how you want to do it,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want him
to, God can come
right out through you,
the old monk says.
But you have to
make the effort.
~
AFTER WHILE
After while
don't you get tired
of all the skinny ones,
the old monk asked
his brother.
~
Monday, October 24, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (340)
WHAT ANYONE
What everyone wants
is not what anyone gets,
the old monk said.
~
I DON'T KNOW WHY
I don't know why
it wants to happen,
the old monk said,
but I'm not going
to make it stop.
~
IF SOMEONE WANTS
If someone wants to,
let them,
the old monk said.
These chances
don't come often.
~
Sunday, October 23, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (90)
IF YOU KNOW
If you know
where you are
you cannot know
when,
the old monk said.
~
THE STARS TONIGHT
The stars tonight
are as big as
God is,
the old monk exclaimed.
~
IN THE TREE
In the tree
where earth
touches sky
God is,
who judges us,
the old monk said.
~
ONLY THE MONKS
Only the monks
who have touched God
are old monks,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU GO UP
When you go up
the mountain
take your body
with you, unless
you wish to fly
among the stars,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK SINGS
The old monk sings
all night to charm
the stars. The stars
sing back to him.
~
FATHER GOD
Father God
Old Woman
who art in heaven,
some pray,
and the old monk
prays with them.
~
WHEN THE SKY
When the sky
was nearer
to our earth
the mountains were
not so high,
the old monk said.
~
THE BANG IS IN FACT
The Big Bang is in fact
the Supreme God,
Mula djadi nabolon,
he who has his
beginning in himself.
It can be no other way,
the old monk insisted.
~
SOME OLD MONKS
Some old monks
have visited the moon,
the old monk said.
Some have flown
all around the earth.
I am happy enough
with my mountain.
~
Friday, October 21, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (339)
IF YOU THINK
If you think about it
too much, you'll scare
yourself, the old monk
said. Just do it and
get it over with.
~
NOT ALL OF IT
Not all of it
has to be words,
that wind through
your windpipe,
the old monk told
the Talker.
~
IT'S MAGIC
It's magic,
the old monk said,
like landing a tractor
on Mars.
~
Thursday, October 20, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (338)
YOU CAN STOP
You can stop
when you have
enough,
but you can't
when you're
always hungry,
the old monk said.
~
YOU MAKE A DEAL
You make a deal and he'll
probably cheat you, when
you're dealing with the devil,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want to
see the other side,
turn around,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (337)
THE OLD MONK SAID
The old monk said.
The old monk says.
The old monk will say.
Or won't, if he gets
tired of your questions.
~
WHY DO YOU
Why do you
grip your pen
so tightly
when you write?
Write lightly,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
SOME DEALS
Some deals
you can't do
because it would
be stealing,
the old monk told them.
~
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (336)
IF THE LIGHT
If the light
would tell you
you would know,
the old monk says.
Walk into it.
~
PAY ATTENTION
Pay attention
to attention,
the old monk says.
~
I HATE IT
I hate it when
I come home and
find what I left
still waiting,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, October 17, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (335)
THAT'S THE HOLY PART
That's the holy part
of begging,
the old monk said,
giving people a way
to get to heaven.
~
THAT'S WHAT YOUR SKIN
That's what your skin is for,
to hold you together
when it all comes apart,
the old monk said.
~
DON'T BE
Don't be disappointed --
the mountain doesn't care,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, October 16, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (89)
IT DOESN'T MEAN
It doesn't mean anything
but they'll think its important
if we keep doing it,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
was so surprised
he couldn't
close his mouth.
~
ONCE YOU MAKE A CHOICE
Once you make a choice,
everything changes,
the old monk said.
~
ONLY A SIMPLE MAN
Only a simple man
understands the obvious,
the old monk said.
~
I HAVE TRIED
I have tried
all my life
to say it,
and still I haven't,
the old monk said.
~
OF COURSE THE UNDERWORLD
Of course the underworld
has the same number
of levels as the sky,
the old monk said.
As above, so below.
In all things, symmetry.
~
IF THERE IS A MARKER
If there is a marker
at the center of the universe,
it is the stone in your heart,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU ARE DESPARATE
When you are desparate
any mythology
will bring the God you need,
the old monk said.
~
SOME SAY THERE ARE
Some say there are
three heavens, some
say seven, some
nine, or thirty-
three. I don't know
how many there
are, but one is
enough for me,
the old monk said.
~
THE SILENCE
The silence
of the mountain
will not save you
if you do not
save yourself,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (334)
IF I TURNED
If I turned my mind
to a single thing
I could write an epic,
the old monk said.
~
IF I COULD
If I could remember,
then I couldn't write --
too much detail,
the old monk admitted.
~
JUST WHEN
Just when you think
it's gone, here comes
another one,
the old monk said.
We'll never get
across the train tracks.
~
Saturday, October 15, 2022
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (333)
YOU DON'T WANT
You don't want to
work it so hard
you break it,
the old monk said.
He was speaking about
more than tools.
~
IF IT'S IN
If it's in the past tense
is it dead when we read it,
the old monk asked the master.
~
YOU CAN GO
You can go pretty fast
from about a dozen to
twelve or fifteen hundred,
breeding rabbits,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, October 09, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (88)
EVERYONE SAYS
Everyone says
they took the long way
when they're late,
the old monk noticed.
~
YOU CAN'T LIVE
You can't live
without the liver,
but you can live
without the onions,
there, buddy,
the comedian
told the old monk.
~
SAY WHAT IT MEANS
Say what it means --
they won't believe it
but they'll hire you,
the old monk advised
the astrologer.
~
BETWEEN TRUTH
Between truth
and not truth
there's no room
to wiggle,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THEY ASK YOU
When they ask you
to show them
how you fly,
do your best jumping
and give them a show,
the old monk told
his student.
~
IF YOU BREAK
If you break
it -- anything --
the world changes
and cannot go back
the way it was,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU SHOW
When you show
what you know
they send you to school,
the old monk warned.
~
IF THEY FALL DOWN
If they fall down
and get back up,
keep them, they'll
be good ones,
the old monk said.
~
THE WORLD CHANGED
The world changes
when the Great Mother
makes her choice --
some go on
the good pile,
the rest of us
go on the other,
the old monk said.
~
WHO BUT THE OLD MONK
Who but the old monk
would rhyme Mother
with another,
his students ask.
They shake their heads.
~
Friday, October 07, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (332)
IF YOU WANT
If you want to work it out,
let it work itself,
the old monk says.
~
HOW MANY POEMS
How many poems
can you write
before God says
enough,
the old monk
asked the poet.
I aim to find out.
~
YOU DON'T KNOW
You don't know
enough about enough
if you want more,
the old monk told
his students.
~
Thursday, October 06, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (331)
HOW MUCH OF
How much of
that can he
do if he keeps
doing that,
the old monk asked
his master
about the saint.
~
LET THE MOON
Let the moon lay light
on the water. Now walk
that way to heaven,
the old monk said.
~
GIVE
Give.
Give it
a rest.
And rest,
the old monk
told his students.
~
IN THE NEWS
Wednesday, October 05, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (330)
YOU CAN LEAVE
You can leave
your car unlocked
or let them
break a window,
your choice,
the old monk said.
~
YOU HAVE TO CLOSE
You have to close the curtains
if you want the deer
to come to the window --
that's how shy they are,
the old monk said.
~
THEY'RE NOT ALL
They're not all bad,
you just have to find
the right ones,
the old monk said
about his pens, and
grapes, and people.
~
Tuesday, October 04, 2022
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (329)
WHEN POEMS
When poems
fall like pearls
from heaven,
I want to
catch a few,
the old monk says.
~
THERE'S A LOT
There's a lot of music,
sometimes whole songs,
in a half note rest,
the old monk told
his music teacher.
~
HALF THE WAY
Half the way
to Tuesday
is soon enough
unless you're
in a hurry,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, October 03, 2022
IN THE NEWS
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (328)
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
a hermit on the mountain,
sometimes
a Trappist brother,
he doesn't
always remember,
the old monk.
~
I WILL GO UP
I will go up
the mountain and up
the mountain until
the mountain wants me
to stop,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH
How much waste
do you want to
generate
to get a good one
the old monk asked
the poet.
~
Sunday, October 02, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (87)
WHEN THE OLD MONK SAYS
When the old monk says
O mercy,
he usually really
means it.
~
RUBBING IT
Rubbing it
makes it better,
the old monk
insisted.
~
IT IS A GOOD EARTH
It is a good earth
which gives you enough fodder
to get through the winter,
the old monk told the farmer.
~
WHEN YOU IMAGINE
When you imagine
another emptiness,
they add another
zero, the bean counters,
the old monk said.
~
THE ROSARY
The rosary is for
bean counters
and saints,
the old monk said.
~
BEAN COUNTERS
Bean counters
with pea shooters --
O mercy,
the old monk said.
~
WHERE IT GOES
Where it goes is
there where it goes,
the old monk told
the deliveryman.
~
YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IT
You want to believe it
and you can't --
that's the miracle,
the old monk said.
~
MEANING IS SOMETIMES
Meaning is sometimes
more in the order of the words
than in what they mean,
the old monk told the poet.
~
IF YOU DRESS
If you dress
the way you undress,
you'll never get a job,
the old monk warned
his students.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (327)
THE MORE YOU TAKE
The more you take,
the more you have to give,
the old monk said,
and it also works
the other way.
~
WHEN IT ALL
When it all
disappears
think of how
light it is,
the old monk said.
~
SOMEONE WANTS
Someone wants to,
just wait
to make your deal
until they do,
the old monk advised.
~
IN THE NEWS
Saturday, October 01, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (326)
THREE HOURS
Three hours
of listening
to the stars
will give you
an earful,
the old monk says.
~
I'VE DONE WHAT
I've done what I've done
and you haven't undone it,
the old monk said,
thanking the mountain.
~
IT WASN'T
It wasn't the lessons
his students needed
that he was teaching --
he was teaching himself,
the old monk.
~
IN THE NEWS
