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DREAMS
It starts quickly and unexpectedly. You do not know when it will start, why, or what it will bring. There are times when even after it is done, you cannot be certain what it was, what it did, what it meant. Often, though, you forget it before you have time to capture it. It is…
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ETERNAL SPRING
Spring has arrived, however begrudgingly,and the young woman pushesthe older woman’s wheelchairalong the paths of the great park.Neither speaks, but each knowsthis could be the last time they do this.That shared knowledge paintseach flower in a more vibrant hue,each fallen petal is quicklybut individually mourned for,its beauty draining back into the soil.The older woman struggles…
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ON THE MESA
On the mesa you can step outsideand look up at the sky,clouds building mountainsthat threaten to eat the sun,swallow the moon whole. On the mesa you can step outsideand feel incredibly small,listen to the coyotes withthe ears of scared children,unable to run like the jackrabbit. On the mesa you can step outsideand look up at…
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TOKUSANS’S THIRTY BLOWS 正法眼蔵 三十一
If I come before the teacherhe will give me thirty blows.If I do not come before the teacherhe will give me thirty blows.It is the same for everyone,his arms never grow tiredbut if I never see my teacher,I give him thirty blowsand my arms are suddenly heavy. A reflection on Case 31 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo…
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HOW WOULD I KNOW
It is highly likelythat I snored mostof last night, I cannotbe certain but my wifesays I did and sheis rarely wrongabout such things. I would liketo blame iton my back, discsbulging where theyought not, titaniumrods claiming theyhold the whole thingtogether, but Icannot be certainof that either onceI slip into sleep. I am temptedto stay up…
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AWAITING ORDERS
I am waiting patiently for her to tell me what I need to do next today. I’m sure she’ll be along shortly with a list. Hopefully, today it will be a short list. And I know that no matter how quickly I get to whatever task it is she assigns, she will, watching me like…
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FUKE’S BELL SONG 正法眼蔵 二十二
Follow the old fellowwalking over there, hewho cannot seebecause it is too bright,who cannot seebecause it is too darkwho cannot seeabove himself, belowbehind or beside,but traverses the pathwith an unerring foot. A reflection on Case 22 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)
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LINKAGE
Linking things is a human need,tenuous forces barely holdingacross synapses easily brokenor lost, never to be replaced. Ithaca is forever joined withGalway City, and I still have notfigured out how to get the twopeople together as together isobviously what they should be. She sits at a small tablein the Commons, staring, waitingperhaps for a writer…
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IN MOURNING
I will soon enough bein mourning for literatureand philosophy for the momentis approaching when theywill be lost, or I supposesimply subsumed, swallowedup in a cloud appearingmomentarily then gone. The day is rapidly approachingand if you doubt itfor even a moment, goto your local library, ifit has not closed, and notethe diminishing numberof books, replacedby computers,…
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MY ANNA
Along the banks of the barge canalin the village park, a manolder, his hair white, almosta mane, sits on the breakwallfeeding Wonder breadto the small flotilla of ducks.Tearing shreds of crustfrom a slice, he casts itonto the water and smilesas they bob for the crumbs.He tells them the storyof his life as thoughthey were his…
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an old writer and his words 