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.
~
