Thursday, December 29, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (372)
IF YOU CLEAN
If you clean the stove
and she cleans it more,
that's not good,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S NEVER
It's never pretty,
what's underneath,
the old monk says.
~
WHO WOULD EVER
Who would ever believe
the old monk thought
so much of grasses,
his students wondered.
~
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (371)
YOU CAN DRIVE
You can drive a big car
when people stay
away from it,
the old monk said.
Even so, the truck driver
has the right of way.
~
IT TAKES OFF
It takes off when
the wind picks up
and who knows
where it lands,
the old monk said.
~
YOU ALWAYS COME
You always come when you want something.
Why don't you ever come when you don't,
the old monk asked.
~
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (370)
SOMETIMES YOU
Sometimes you forget
what to remember,
the old monk said,
but you can't remember
what to forget.
~
IT'S A BALL
It's a ball
so it can go
any direction,
the old monk said.
If it were
a block,
it couldn't.
~
THE MATHEMATICAL
The mathematical
difference between
point and plane
is infinite,
the old monk says.
~
Monday, December 26, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (369)
HE WINS
He wins at cards
but has to be
driven home,
his student said
about the old monk.
~
WHEN WINE
When wine
turns to vinegar,
where does the
alcohol go,
the old monk asked.
~
THE PEOPLE WITH
The people with the nicest
houses don't live in them,
the old monk suggested.
~
Sunday, December 25, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (99)
IF YOU WOULD
If you would
allow
the moment to
blossom
like a flower,
it would,
the old monk said.
~
YOUR SINS FOLLOW YOU
Your sins follow you
up the mountain
and you have to
carry them back down,
the old monk said.
~
AFTER THE CRICKETS
After the crickets are done
the stars will tell their stories.
Sit with us and listen,
the old monk said.
~
ONE CAN BE
One can be
one or
the other
and sometimes
both
if you're fast,
the old monk said.
~
AN OPEN HEART
An open heart
unlocks many doors,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THE STARS
When the stars
line up just right
and the wind
is from the south
sometimes the trees
will tell their stories,
but you have to listen,
the old monk said.
~
THE LIGHTNESS
The lightness you feel
as you start to fly
is the world letting go,
the old monk told his students.
~
TO FIND YOUR WAY
To find your way
to God
follow your pain,
the old monk said.
~
THE PRINCESS
The princess
or the tiger?
Door Number Three:
the emptiness
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK HOPES
The old monk hopes
someone will put it
together so
it makes sense.
He knows he can't.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (368)
TOAST LANDS
Toast lands
buttered-side down.
I think
of the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES IT'S
Sometimes it's sweeter
being bad,
the old monk said.
~
ASK YOURSELF
Ask yourself,
what would be
want on Mars
and what
would be need,
the old monk said.
Then decide
if this is
important.
~
Sunday, December 18, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (98)
HOLINESS
Holiness
is like a biscuit
waiting for gravy,
the old monk said.
~
BETWEEN THE FIRST
Between the first
of nothing
and the last
of nothing --
nothing,
the old monk said.
~
BEFORE GRAVITY
Before gravity
pulls you back to earth
you have to get
serious about flying,
the old monk said.
~
THAT DOOR GOES
That door goes
where doors go,
which is to say
nowhere,
the old monk said.
~
SOME TALK
Some talk
and say nothing.
Some say nothing
and their silence
speaks,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THE BASKET IS
When the basket is
full of poems, it's
time to go to bed,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU PRAY
If you pray
pray for me
and if you don't pray
don't pray
for the devil,
the old monk said.
~
THE LAST PART
The last part
of this part
is the first part
of the next one
as the world turns,
the old monk said.
~
GOD TOUCHES
God touches
what God touches
and when he
touches you there,
O my God,
the old monk said.
~
IT IS THE SILENCE
It is the silence
and loneliness
on the mountain
which leads to God,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (367)
IF IT
If it
does everything,
what
does it,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU'LL KNOW
You'll know how important
you are by how much or
how little they have to
remember you by,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S ONLY
It's only smooth
if you have a big hand,
the old monk said
about the butcher's table.
~
Saturday, December 17, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (366)
IF YOU THINK
If you think of all
the things you've done
you won't have time to
do all the things you'll do,
the old monk said.
~
WE CAN'T SEE
We can't see
to the edge of
the universe
where the stranger
stars are,
the old monk says.
~
THINGS ARE
Things are the way they are
for a reason.
Look deep. See the reason,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, December 16, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (365)
THIS ONE KEEPS
This one keeps
pushing off
the next one.
The next one
keeps pushing back,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU EVER
If you ever show it to them
you can never stop
showing it to them again,
the old monk said.
~
WE SHOULD ALL
We should all spend
more time with our cats,
the old monk says.
~
Thursday, December 15, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (364)
THE OLD MONK SAID
The old monk said
to his master, Yes,
the stuff I carry,
I have to.
~
THERE I GO
There I go again,
thinking things
I won't ever know,
the old monk said.
~
IF IT WERE
If it were interesting
they'd want to pay me and
I'm allergic to money,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (363)
I'VE NEVER
I've never wanted to
make anything too
big for fear it might
collapse on me,
the old monk said.
This explains all
my short poems.
~
I COULD MAKE
I could make a thousand deals a day
but I can't get up in the morning,
the student complained to the old monk.
~
IF WHAT YOU ARE
If what you are
seeking is emptiness,
why so much stuff,
the old monk asked
his student.
~
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (362)
IF I WANT
If I go to see
the cherry blossoms
I start to think
they do all that
for me,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S THE BONES
It's the bones,
the old monk said.
Everything else
works pretty good.
It's the bones.
~
WHERE THE UNIVERSE
Where the universe
is coming apart, it's
being pushed, or pulled,
I don't know which,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, December 12, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (361)
SHE SLEEPS
She sleeps with the devil
and never takes her clothes off,
the old monk said
about his sister.
~
AMAZEMENT
Amazement
suggests a maze
of some kind,
the old monk says.
~
THAT'S HOW IT
That's how it starts,
with talking to ghosts,
the old monk said
about his master.
~
Sunday, December 11, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (97)
MEANING IS NOT
Meaning is not
the meaning of poetry,
the old monk said.
~
I'D LET YOU DOWN EASY
I'd let you down easy
but you've hardly
been up at all,
the old monk told
his eager student.
~
WHAT YOU NEED
What you need to do
is on the other
side of the window --
it's not in here,
the old monk told them.
~
YOU ROLL
You roll the dice.
God moves you
on the board.
That's how the game
is played,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN LAY DOWN
You can lay down
and wait for the stars
to speak, or you can
lay down and die --
your choice,
the old monk said.
~
I DON'T KNOW
I don't know
what it means
that the line
breaks here
instead of
here,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
SOME THINGS LAST
Some things last
past their
expiration dates.
Some of us
expire sooner,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT
If you can't find it
in your notes, you can get
it will be on the test,
the old monk said.
~
HOW LATE
How late
in the night
does silence
wait,
the old monk asked.
The mountain
didn't answer.
~
EVEN NOTHING
Even nothing
can be enough
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (360)
IF YOU HOLD
If you hold your breath
and stamp your feet
until tomorrow
maybe he'll see you then,
the old monk told his students
about his master.
~
THE MASTER
The master is the guy
with the golden ruler,
the old monk told his students.
~
IT TAKES
It takes all
of what you are
to be who
you are,
the old monk says.
~
Saturday, December 10, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (359)
IF IT WORKS
If it works that way
on the mountain,
why doesn't it
work that way here,
the student asked
the old monk.
~
SOMETIMES THE GHOST
Sometimes the ghost
comes in a different door
and I have no idea
what's going on,
the old monk conceded.
~
DO WE DO
Do we do
what we want
or do we want
what we do,
the old monk asked.
~
Friday, December 09, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (358)
WHERE TREES
Where trees collect
wind and rain
in their fibers,
that's where you
want to live
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT'S LEFT
What's left
at the end
is endless,
the old monk says.
~
THE POWER
The power
which powers
over us
sometimes
over-
powers us,
the old monk
said, and we
are lifted.
~
Thursday, December 08, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (357)
DON'T OVER-THINK
Don't over-think
the plot: Someone
gets shot. Someone
shot him. Find out
who, the old monk
told the novelist.
~
IF YOU KNOW
If you know me,
you know I'm a little slow,
the old monk said.
Time on the mountain
will do that.
~
I THINK WHEN
I think when I get
done with this life
I'll take a little rest,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, December 07, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (356)
LOOK UP
Look up the meaning of relish.
Look up the meaning of cherish.
They will give you
something to think about,
the old monk said.
~
IF THE UNIVERSE
If the universe
is blowing away
from the Big Bang,
what's where it was,
the old monk asked
the astrophysicist.
~
SOMETIMES IT IS
Sometimes it is as if
I'm a mouse in the corner --
the things I get to hear people say,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, December 06, 2022
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (355)
WHAT DOES
What does the edge
of the universe
love so much that
it keeps chasing
beyond for it,
the old monk asked.
~
LOOK INTO
Look into the emptiness
and think of all the things you've spoiled,
the old monk said.
You will rectify your ways.
~
YOU CAN'T STEAL
You can't steal
on the mountain,
the old monk said,
before the mountain
steals it back.
~
Sunday, December 04, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (96)
THIS SILENCE IS
This silence is
not as good as
the great silence,
but then the great
silence is forever,
the old monk said,
which is
a problem for some.
~
IF WHAT YOU HAVE
If what you have
is mice, you might
need more raptors,
the old monk suggested.
~
PUTTING IT DOWN
Putting it down
in your notes
won't get you
into heaven
but it's a good
place to start,
the old monk said.
~
YOU FIND YOURSELF
You find yourself
on the mountain
when you find
yourself on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
I CAN TELL YOU
I can tell you
some things are
eternal,
I just can't
tell you which,
the old monk said.
~
ONE HUNDRED DAYS
One hundred days
of believing
won't even get
you started up
the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
THE HAWK KNOWS
The hawk knows
the patience
of gophers,
the old monk said.
~
HOW DO YOU
How do you
not get disqualified
for contradicting
yourself, they asked
the old monk.
~
YOU STICK YOUR LANDING
You stick your landing
they give you extra points,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO
Sometimes you have to
say it even though you
don't know what it means,
the old monk told the poet.
~
