Tuesday, February 28, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (419)
YOU ALWAYS SLOW
You always slow down
when wisdom comes,
the old monk said,
at least that is true
when I am driving.
~
PATIENCE IRRITATES
Patience irritates
some of you
and others don't
understand that,
the old monk said.
~
WAITING IS
Waiting is what
old men do,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, February 27, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (418)
MULBERRY STAINS
Mulberry stains
are worth it,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES YOU STIR
Sometimes you stir it
all together and call it
fruit salad,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WANT TO
If you want to know
how to grow things,
the old monk said,
watch what weeds do,
and do that.
~
Sunday, February 26, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (417)
ALL THE GOOD
All the good ones
are taken is how it turns out
when you're looking for
a cave on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
TAKE WHAT
Take what you need
and leave some
for Jesus
would be good advice
if I were Christian,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES / EVERYTHING
Sometimes
everything
you touch
touches
sorrow,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, February 25, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (416)
EVERYTHING WE SAY
Everything we say
is code for something
beyond what
the dictionary says
the words mean,
the old monk said.
~
THE MASTER OFTEN
The master often pointed
and I couldn't see
what he was pointing at --
now I understand that,
the old monk said.
~
THE WAY
The way
you look
at it
is what
you see,
the old
monk said.
~
Friday, February 24, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (415)
IF YOU THINK
If you think about it
until you break it
you've over-thought it,
the old monk says.
~
ALL THINGS
All things
are good things
until you look
at the bad side,
the old monk said.
~
SCREAM, BUT DON'T
Scream, but don't
pick up the pieces,
the old monk told
those going to
the horror show.
~
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (414)
WHEN THEY GET
When they get put away,
I can't find them --
that's my problem,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN'T
If you can't dance
you'd better form a band,
the old monk said.
~
HOW LANGUAGE
How language
figures
itself out
is something,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
Monday, February 20, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (413)
YOU LEARN
You learn to write
by hearing folks talk
all the while
you're growing up,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH
How much do you
need to need to
be happy,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU CAN WATCH
You can watch
a hundred movies
and you still won't
see it -- life,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, February 19, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (412)
AS MUCH AS
As much as you want
might surprise you,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE GRAND
In the grand scheme
we are a small cinder
flying in the darkness,
the old monk said.
~
DISTANCE
Distance
is where you don't
usually get to,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, February 18, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (411)
ANY MOUNTAIN
Any mountain
is your mountain
if you choose it
and it does not
kill you,
the old monk said.
~
ONE SAYS
One says how much
can you do before sleep
and one says how much
sleep can you do --
surprisingly,
they're still together,
the old monk said.
~
FAILURE
Failure
is another way
of getting taken
home by the cops,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, February 17, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (410)
EVERYTHING
Everything
that is
anything
is something,
the old monk said.
~
IF I WRITE
If I'd write
upside down
it might make
more sense,
the old monk said.
~
THE ONE WHO
The one who watches
watches
and sees ten thousand things
come apart,
the old monk says.
~
Thursday, February 16, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (409)
THE WIND DOESN'T
The wind doesn't
talk much
but still we listen,
the old monk sald.
~
DO IT AGAIN
Do it again
to make sure it will
do it again,
the old monk said.
~
THE MISSING MATTER
The missing matter is distance,
the old monk told the astronomer.
~
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (408)
NOTHING IS
Nothing is nothing
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
NOT EVERYTHING
Not everything
is something,
the old monk said.
~
DO EVERYTHING
Do everything you can
and then do one more
just for show,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (407)
I GO WHERE
I go where
silence goes
when the streets
are noisy,
the old monk said.
~
HALF THE WAYS
Half the ways
you can take it
are probably
twice what I meant,
the old monk said.
~
HOW EASY
How easy
it seems
during practice,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, February 13, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (406)
IF YOU WANT
If you want
everyone to hear it,
the old monk said,
say it quietly.
~
WHAT GOES UP
What goes up
the mountain
is not
what comes down,
you understand that,
right,
the old monk
told his students.
~
WHERE THE SKY
Where the sky is dark,
tomorrow's coming,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, February 12, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (405)
THE NAIL MIGHT
The nail might
make the hole
but it's the wood
that holds on
and won't let go,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH
How much do you
have to cross out
to get one good word,
the old monk
asked the poet.
~
YOU CAN HIDE
You can hide
many of them
but not all,
so let me see
what you've got,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, February 11, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (404)
OLD MONK
Old monk.
Hermit.
Mountain.
Blue.
You see
the problem,
don't you?
~
WHERE DOES
Where does the wind go
when the wind goes
where wind goes,
the old monk asked.
~
HURRYING UP
Hurrying up
will only
slow you down,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, February 10, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (403)
WHAT COLOR
What color
the world is
depends upon
the color
you can see
and which
dimension
you live in,
the old monk saidf
~
THAT WHICH IS
That which is is,
don't even talk about it,
the old monk said.
~
HIS THINKING
His thinking
is quite an elaborate
structure which
collapsed on him,
the master said
about the the old monk.
~
Wednesday, February 08, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (402)
ASK YOURSELF
Ask yourself
if the stars
would have you,
then act
accordingly,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
what you want
is your
unhappiness,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK'S ADVICE
The old monk's advice
for star travelers --
turn left at the edge.
~
Tuesday, February 07, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (401)
CAN YOU
Can you forget
that you forgot,
the old monk asked them.
~
IF YOU DO
If you do it
and they know
you've done it,
you're done,
the old monk
warned them.
~
THE STARS
The stars
glow
with all
they know,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, February 06, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (400)
HOW GREEN
How green
the world is
when the blue
stuff falls,
the old monk said.
~
THE TIME TO
The time to turn
is when the wind does,
the djinn tells
desert travelers,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN TRY
You can try
but you can't
outwalk your master,
the old monk said.
You can only
outwalk yourself.
~
Sunday, February 05, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (399)
I SEE RIGHT
I see right through
what I do
into the nothing
it becomes,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want to do
what you do
you can do
what you want to,
the old monk said.
~
SO ALL TIME
So all time
and space
and matter
was compressed
for the that moment,
the Big Bang?
Where was it kept
beforehand,
the old monk asked.
~
Saturday, February 04, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (398)
EVERYTHING
Everything you lose
is something to find,
the old monk said.
~
ASK YOURSELF
Ask yourself
what can you do
that needs to be
done, not what
hasn't been done,
the old monk said.
~
YOU KNOW WHAT
You know awhat to do
but do you know how to do it?
They're not the same
and they don't help each other,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, February 03, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (397)
NOTICE WHAT
Notice what you notice,
the old monk said.
That's the path to wisdom.
~
WE ARE ALL
We are all of them,
those who lived
in the water,
in the trees,
on the plains,
in the desert,
those who found
a way and those
who lost theirs,
we are they,
the old monk said.
~
WHERE
Where the pathway
is worn, no one
decides otherwise,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, February 02, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (396)
THE UNIVERSE KNOWS
The universe knows --
it just doesn't tell us,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH
How much can the stars pull me
before they've pulled me apart,
the old monk wondered.
~
CAREWORN MEANS
Careworn means
it has been
loved a lot,
the old monk said.
~
