• KOTEI STRIKES A MONK 鐵笛倒吹 八十一

    Bow before a kingand you may be rewardedbut bow before a teacherand expect to be shunned.Which has something to offer?Ask the teacher why he shuns youand he will turn you away. One offers a bit of gold,one offers a priceless gem.Gold can buy you many thingsbut the gem is worthlessto all but he to who…


  • BENEATH THE WAVES

    She says she has always wantedto swim like a dolphin, and she laughswhen others tell her that she can,in the Florida Keys and in Hawaii. She tells them that anyone, at leastanyone with money can swimwith the dolphins, but she wantsto swim like a dolphin as well. She wants to see the sky appearthrough the…


  • AN ORPHAN

    I knew you’d show up in my dream,it was a matter of time and faith,or perhaps just playing the averages,sooner or later became sooner, that’s all. You had nothing to say, but that, toowas to be expected, for I have neverheard your voice, and imagine it akinto the voice of the GPS or perhaps Siri.…


  • WAITING FOR HEAVEN TO CALL

    He says he is waiting patientlyfor the arrival of heaven on earth. He is not sure what that will be likeand the descriptions he has seenare too fantastical to be believed,all clouds and angels and music He is hoping the things he lovesmost will be available in heaven,a good Alfredo sauce and Germanchocolate cake, for…


  • SOTO

    If you are able to speakmaintain silence,If you can bear the silence,listen to the song the sea sings.If you can sing with the seacount the grains of sandthat wash in on the next wave.If you lose count, begin againbefore the wave recedes.If the wave recedes beforeyou finish counting, bid it farewell.After you bid farewellreturn to…


  • ME, MYSELF NOT I

    It would be so much easierif I had a twin brother,and not merely a doppelganger. Doppelgangers are nice enoughbut they are never aroundwhen you most need themand the refuse to take the blamefor your actions, althoughthey are willing to blame youfor theirs, an ugly imbalance. Idential twins have advantagesif you can bend themto your will,…


  • NOT A DONUT

    I have never made a bagel. I have never jumped off the roof of a house to see what flight was like. I have never run a marathon or a half marathon. I have never owned a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati. Or a Porsche for that matter. I have never driven a car at more…


  • GENTO’S AXE 鐵笛倒吹 八十二

    You sit before himan axe in his hand.He asks a question and saysif you answer I will cut offyour right hand,if you do not respondI will sever your left. There is no soundfrom the clock in the corneras you silently grab his axeand he smilesin deeply shared knowledge. A reflection on Case 82 of the…


  • TOMORROW

    Many say that the end of the worldis upon us, that we will allbe replaced by electronics,but of that I have no fear,for electronics may claimto be smarter than we are,but if you’ve ever triedto interconnect or network them,you know that half of the timethey will fail miserablyand even in those rare caseswhere they work…


  • FLIGHT

    Feathers openedfingers extendedwings unfurledarms outstretchedhead poised skyward, thenhead poised skyward lifting up into a sun filled skydreaming of impossible flight.