Zen Poems from Light and Dark
Blue Sky
Looking up
At the sky,
The Zen Master spoke
Until he was blue
In the face.
~~
Archery
My archery teacher opened his left arm, starting from his chest out and around, like a ballet dancer, like a chi gong master. He began to respond to a comment I had made.
“Do you really want to know", he asked me, – do you really want me to just tell you - at this stage of your training?” He asked me.
“Yes,” I said definitively.
My Archery Teacher began speaking:
“You are the target on the other side of the field. Also you are the freshly strung bow. You are all the parts of the arrow: the tip, the stem, the tail. You are the air between the tip of the arrow and the target. You are the hand pulling the bow.
As the center of the target, you love the air yourself that you are calling through to kiss yourself the tip of the arrow. To complete your sweet kiss, you let yourself know exactly where to fly.”
My archery teacher opened his left arm, starting from his chest out and around, like a ballet dancer, like a chi gong master. He began to respond to a comment I had made.
“Do you really want to know", he asked me, – do you really want me to just tell you - at this stage of your training?” He asked me.
“Yes,” I said definitively.
My Archery Teacher began speaking:
“You are the target on the other side of the field. Also you are the freshly strung bow. You are all the parts of the arrow: the tip, the stem, the tail. You are the air between the tip of the arrow and the target. You are the hand pulling the bow.
As the center of the target, you love the air yourself that you are calling through to kiss yourself the tip of the arrow. To complete your sweet kiss, you let yourself know exactly where to fly.”
~~
Breeze
The fragrant
Breeze
Carries
itself.
~~
Brown Bird
Brown bird,
Tilt of her body
A Perfect Balance.
Oak tree’s branches
Oak’s broad leaves
Her safe harbor.
Brown bird,
Tilt of her body
A Perfect Balance.
Oak tree’s branches
Oak’s broad leaves
Her safe harbor.
~~
Flip
Behind each
Tree
each Shrub
Is the other half
Just as green.
Behind each
Tree
each Shrub
Is the other half
Just as green.
~~
Hands
His hands
Guide the vine
Back to
The arbor
Again.
Leaf Turns
A leaf turns.
We think
Perhaps the wind
Helped it turn.
In this moment
It was the leaf
Who helped
The wind move.
A leaf turns.
We think
Perhaps the wind
Helped it turn.
In this moment
It was the leaf
Who helped
The wind move.
~~
Sharing
Having seen
Yellow mums
Dancing,
I have taken
A Vow to
Share my life.
I have given
My smile from
Across the room.
Having seen
Yellow mums
Dancing,
I have taken
A Vow to
Share my life.
I have given
My smile from
Across the room.
~~
New
New Vine Sprouts
Into
The Morning Mist
Onto
The Ancient Bark
New Vine Sprouts
Into
The Morning Mist
Onto
The Ancient Bark
~~
Rain
Rain-wet
Leaves
Stuck
Onto
Endless Road.
Step
Stepping
Stones
Move.
Staying
Very still.
Stepping
Stones
Move.
Staying
Very still.
~~
Monks
50, 000 monks
And more.
Meditating
Through the ages.
Carrying water.
For my thirst.
~~
Pink
My world
Includes pink flowers
A bright
yellow
Center.
~~
Branches
A Branch of a tree
like a ballet dancer
Complimenting the sky.
A Branch of a tree
like a ballet dancer
Complimenting the sky.
~~
A quick light wind
A quick light wind
Makes
a small leafed tree
Tickle itself.
The Squirrels pause
And chuckle
Tails go up
along the Branches
Raccoon goes back
To his chess game
Of finding food.
A quick light wind
Makes
a small leafed tree
Tickle itself.
The Squirrels pause
And chuckle
Tails go up
along the Branches
Raccoon goes back
To his chess game
Of finding food.
~~
The Brand New Student
Spends years in Meditation,
Work and Bowing.
Learns finally
there is no path
To Enlightenment.
Years later,
Learns
There actually is no
Enlightenment at all,
There Just Is.
Learns the teacher
He once looked upon
Starry Eyed
As Greatness
Is He Himself
Just simply
equally himself,
In Greatness.
Spends years in Meditation,
Work and Bowing.
Learns finally
there is no path
To Enlightenment.
Years later,
Learns
There actually is no
Enlightenment at all,
There Just Is.
Learns the teacher
He once looked upon
Starry Eyed
As Greatness
Is He Himself
Just simply
equally himself,
In Greatness.
~~
Single File
Achaan Chaa,
The famous Thai-Laotian
Meditation Master.
His monks,
Walk single file
Their begging bowls
In the fog.
Achaan Chaa,
The famous Thai-Laotian
Meditation Master.
His monks,
Walk single file
Their begging bowls
In the fog.
~~
Fishing
I am
An old fish,
With many hooks in my mouth.
I delight
In finding new water.
I am
An old fish,
With many hooks in my mouth.
I delight
In finding new water.
~~
Chair
A Rocking Chair
And a Wheel Chair
Both move
Through Time.
A Rocking Chair
And a Wheel Chair
Both move
Through Time.
~~
Chime
The Beautiful
Vibration of the Chime
Spread through
The meditation Hall
Like perfume
To begin meditation.
Meditation is already
Complete.
The Beautiful
Vibration of the Chime
Spread through
The meditation Hall
Like perfume
To begin meditation.
Meditation is already
Complete.
~~
Autumn Observation
Chickadee
admires
The modesty
of leaves
Leaves waiting
For their one flight.
Chickadee
admires
The modesty
of leaves
Leaves waiting
For their one flight.
~~
Autumn
Red Leaf Ballet,
Graceful
Falls.
The Still Ground,
Begins
The New Ballet.
Red Leaf Ballet,
Graceful
Falls.
The Still Ground,
Begins
The New Ballet.
Salmon
Salmon races
Upstream,
Leaping over
Its Shadow.
Salmon races
Upstream,
Leaping over
Its Shadow.
~~
Humming
A woman and a man
Each separately
Step onto the patio
Neither can find the others eyes,
Nor the humming bird
Going from flower to flower.
~~
Foolishness
Foolishness Has its own wisdom.
No, let’s start over.
Foolishness
Has its own lack of vision,
Lack of planning,
Disregard for the intellect,
Has its own blindness.
When a clown goes for a laugh,
And it bombs miserably,
He goes straight on ahead,
Not wanting to do anything else.
~~
Forest
In the Forest,
I sit in my hut.
In the rainy season,
I am wet.
In the summer,
I am very hot indeed.
Each Step
The Ancient Ones step through me.
Each step,
So fresh
No step has ever been taken.
Each Step
The Ancient Ones step through me.
Each step,
So fresh
No step has ever been taken.
Each Step