-
MANUAL LABOR
(Instructions for Mourning a Marriage) It didn’t come with an instruction manual,no simple, poorly translated diagramstelling me to “be inserting Tab Ainto the Slot B,” none anywhere to be found.But I was young, and didn’t worry,despite entreaties to get help firstbefore beginning the intricate task of assembly.I laid out all of the parts carefullyuntil it…
-
A DEAFENING SILENCE
Sitting in stillness, the silenceis at first shocking, deafeningin a way unimagined but there. Within the lack of sound liesa thousand sounds you hadnever heard in the din of life. You hear the young monk at Senso-jiapproach the great bell and pullback on the log shu-moku, straining. You hear the laugh of school agedchildren hand…
-
UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL
It was a plain white envelopequite large, laying in the mailbox,a name and return address,nothing out of the ordinaryuntil I realized there were nostamps, just a marking,Postage PaidMelbourneVic. Inside was a magazineand within two poemswith which I was familiarbut which were nowbeing read on the oppositeside of the globe and Ihad to wonder whatthe Aussies…
-
HAKUUN’S BLACK AND WHITE 鐵笛倒吹 十四
Like Hakuunshun the city,flee the townsand find a homein the forest onlyin the deepest partof winter, butdo not shun peoplein your solitude. Write versesof total silenceand dig deeply intonewly fallen snow.Let it drift over youuntil you black hairis all that appearson an endless field of white. A reflection on case 14 of the Iron Flute…
-
GOING HOME
They say you cannot go homeagain, although I have neverhad occasion to meet them. I’ve never been one to followthe dictates of them, unless theywere my parents or spouse, andin the case of my parents, oftennot even when they demanded it,so I went back to the homeof my childhood, a shockinglynew place as I remembered…
-
ABIDING NATURE
The abiding Buddha natureof birds is demonstratedby their calm ability to carryon conversations in the presenceof interacting humans, whoare too often deaf to the soundsin which nature immerses them. But when we speak to the birdsin a crude facsimile of theirnative chirp, caw and trill,they pause to listen, strainto understand us, wishingonly to let us…
-
AN AWAKENING
Take one partGrand Marnier, oneFrangelico, a short cupof coffee, whipped creamonly if you wish,curl on the sofawith your life’sgreatest loveand your firstreal, truly yourfirst Christmas Evemakes you wonderwhy you waitedso long. First published in The Poet: Christmas (2020 United Kingdom)
-
ONE STEP TOO FAR
“As you get older,” he said,“the body grows remarkablyadept at telling you whenyou have done too much,or done something you shouldn’t.” What he didn’t say, the criticalpiece of advice I wish I heard,is that the body only speakswell after the fact, a lecturesurely, but never a warning. No one wants to go a stepshort, to…
-
FROM THERE
The middle, she said, is whatis all important, for everythingextends from that precise point. It’s something we learnedas children, a lesson sittingin every good playground. Buddhists know it certainly,it is the way we want to find,the route to peace and compassion. And let’s face it, when it comesto everything, we all knowthat’s the place you…
-
TAIGEN FANS HIMSELF 正法眼蔵 三十二
When a leaf leaves the treeit falls precisely where it should.When a flower petal is carriedoff on a strong wind itcomes to rest in the proper place.When you smell the sweet aromaof next summer’s rosesuse the nose you hadbefore your parents were born. A reflection on case 32 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 