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ISSA PAUSES
first snow of winter white coated Buddha dreaming of chrysanthemums prayer flags unmoving in the stillness of morning summer or winter? tomorrow is gone, yesterday has disappeared. what moment is this?
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HUMANITY
Each day I walk out into the sea. Each day the sea engulfs me. I cannot walk on the water, nor does the water part before me. Each day I walk out into the sea and reconfirm my humanity. In my prior life as a Corporate attorney, I was profiled in the ACC Docket, the…
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FLOWING
A young man stands on the bank a river and sees the water toppling over and around uncaring stones. Halfway up the slope of the great mountain an old man steps from his small hut looks down at a hawk circling the river, watching for the glint of a passing salmon. From its aerie…
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BAREFOOT
He says his favorite clouds all wear size seven shoes. He knows she believes she once saw a paisley rainbow and will never forget it. She wears size seven shoes and her tears can be torrential, yet they can still nurture the first flowers of spring. He imagines her a butterfly sitting on the back…
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SLEEPING
In the Virginia countryside men have dug an enormous hole. Some say it is for the stone to pave their streets, build their homes. Some say it was dug out of spite. The young child looking out the window of the plane knows and simply says it is a burrow where all the stars and moon…
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PICNIC
A cloud envelopes the forest. The trees believe it is they who pierce the cloud, impaling it, its essence drained onto their sagging limbs. The shower passes and we walk the forest floor. In a small clearing we lie down on a damp bed of needles. They do not pierce our skin. Four birds gather…
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SUMMER NIGHT
The moon etches itself into the cobalt sky. Orion rests on the margin of too tall eucalyptus that reach up to ensnare him. Luna’s face floats on the gently shifting pond staring up at the moon recognizing no one. She wonders why the stars move slowly as she sits transfixed. On the window sill Shakyamuni Buddha…
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THREE TOKYO SCENES
Scene I Just off Shinjukuchuokoen North, nestled in the courtyard of the Green Tower, hides Jyoufuji Temple, serene in the first light of morning, the sun dancing off the ceremonial bell its striker poised, as if waiting to catch the wind and to it sing its resonant song. Inside, the prayer mats await the first…
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TAOS EVENING
On the mesa between El Prado and Tres Piedras after the sun has been swallowed by the mountains, to the east a fire burns. Countless stars stare down on the shivering sage. The scorpion lunges for the distant hill. The fire grows behind the mountain, the orange disk rises slowly. The smallest stars flee Luna’s…
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an old writer and his words 