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CENSORS
They stole his words, carefully sidling up to him when he was distracted, and plucking one left hanging from a pocket or in his room at night slid one from the dresser. He never saw them and never suspected. They toyed with him, for a while taking only verbs, leaving him transfixed and cursing his…
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THE SEA
Sitting on the shore, I asked the sea to tell me of life. The sea said the sky was a hungry suitor always trying to devour her. The sea said doves no longer lived atop the mountains. The sea said men embraced wars because they feared love. The sea…
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42
Before there was a big bang there was what. Before there was life there was who. Before there was space there was where. Before there was time there was when. Before there was there was why.
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THIS POEM
will not marvel at the dawn will not stare at the ebb and flow of the sea will not see ghosts in the clouds over Dachau will sit on the page staring back will remember the torn wallpaper will cry out, always unanswered will not trace your spine, lingering on each vertebra will not make…
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CHAPERONE
There are three ducks on the pond, two female, one male, and none says anything that is remotely profound. Half a world away, a man carefully parks a truck at the edge of a crowded Baghdad market and walks quickly away. Three ducks swim side by side by side around the pond, every now and…
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STREETCORNER PROPHESY
He stands on the corner, rocking back and forth. He has been here every day for as long as most can remember. He hasn’t bathed in some time, his clothes, once white are indeterminate shades of beige. Everything is worn thin. His beard has grown long, shaggy. His hair seems electric on his head. He…
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BUDDHA TEACHES
Buddha teaches us that to be a trainer of elephants, one must have five principal qualifications, to be of good health, to have confidence and diligence in large measure, to have deep sincerity of purpose and above all else, wisdom. Once must be nimble, to avoid the foot of the beast set at every turn…
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STAIRCASE
It stands at the end of a very long hallway white walls, naked like giant canvasses awaiting the overdue artist. There are no doorways off this corridor, just the one behind you through which you entered what now seems hours ago. You stand as though rooted to the polished marble floor, your legs leaden, to…
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ENTER EXITS
He says doors and windows are to enable us to come within, to be safe from all that is outside, to make this space a sanctuary. She says windows and doors are to allow us to merge with the sky, taste the river, and sing songs taught us by the moon. The doors and windows…
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BUDDHA NATURE
Any good cat will tell you that there is absolutely no good reason to distinguish between here and there, night and day, good and evil, and the list is virtually endless. Cats will admit, if you ask them nicely, that they have no need for such dualities. Cats understand gray in all of its gradations,…
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an old writer and his words 