-
HELLO GOODBYE
When I saw you this morningI knew instantly that I hadn’t seen youin more than twenty years,although it is quite possible wehave never met and todaywas the first time my eyesever gazed at your face . I suppose it is lucky thatyou did not recognize mealthough I don’t think I’ve changedall that much in twenty…
-
HOFUKU’s BLOCKING OF THE EYES
Do not pity the blind manfor he can see much,and do not be sad for the deaffor they can hear you.Your eyes see nothingyour ears do notdiscern the quietest sound.Rest your mind and tastethe peace of blindnessand silence. A reflection on Case 113 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye) Koans
-
MARCHING TO OBLIVION
The most disturbing thingabout lemmings is notthat they follow one after anotherover a cliff or into traffic,it is not the carnagethat inevitably ensues,one after another doomedby the need to follow blindly. The disturbing thingis not the knowledge thatlemmings only follow,so someone directedthe first in line intoa suicidal act. The most disturbing thingis that lemmingsdo not…
-
AMD ODE
You didn’t have to go, you knowI did enjoy having you around,and I am sorely missing you now. They said the odds of youleaving, of even planning a departurewere small, but what did they know. They didn’t know that Ihad traits that would makeyour departure more likely. They didn’t say that oncethe word was uttered,…
-
MANDATORY, FOR NOW
They were not optional in our family,once a week, half an hour, that andat least 20 minutes daily, the youngestgot the choice of times. He quit after a year, his sisterwas three years in and went on anotherand I was eight years staringat the 88 keys, so many of whichwould never get used, uselessas were…
-
NESSLESS
There are no monstersin this lake I tellmy granddaughter, answeringher unasked question.There are bears in the woodsaround here and thereused to be an owl which madean afternoon visit.There are deer, certainlyand there could be a coyoteor two. If you don’tbelieve me, ask the crows,everyone knows that theycan never keep a secret. First published in From…
-
PARKING
It is the difference I always noticebetween small and large cities: the parks. When you sit deeply withinBoston Commons or Central Parkyou can feel the city alwaysthreatening to encroach andonce again make you its prisoner,smell and hear the city, trafficand trucks rumbling, hornsplayed in a cacophonous symphony. In small cities you can sit in a…
-
THE CLIMB
Life should be a like a mountainalthough truth be told, weprefer it more like a prairieor at best a gentle, rolling hill. There is a challenge to climbing,hell maintaining a grip halfwayup most mountains, andthere are no maps, nowell worn paths, you justgo up until you cannotgo up higher then youfigure out how to come…
-
THREE WORDS ARE MIND
If you stareat a large stoneand call it a mountainthe ant will agree with you.If you gaze on a mountainand call it a stonethere can be no argument.If I call that treea toothpickclean your teeth carefully. A reflection on Case 112 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye) Koans
-
COSMOS
As a child he decided,after watching Cosmos,that he wanted to be an astronomer. He was six, we boughta large telescope and I was assignedthe job of aiming itaccording to his directions. After a while he didhave a mment of panic, wonderingwhat he would doduring the day. That soon passedwhen he discovered the radio telescopeand time…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 