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A Mistake in Speaking 無門關 三十九
When you speak the words of the Buddha you are lost. Light is everywhere in silence but the tongue must hide in the dark of the mouth. Buddha’s words are flowers unfolding in the dawn by the side of the still pond, the eyes hear the song and respond in silent chorus. A reflection on…
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55+ FLORIDA
She said, “you so don’t fit in there, everyone’s going on eighty except those can only see it in their rear view mirrors.” “Perhaps,” he said, “but I’m fairly sure I’m on the very young side of things, and it’s nice being the kid in the crowd once again. And anyway, it’s a comforting thought…
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EROTHANATOS Vol. 3, No. 3
Just yesterday Erothanatos (from India) released its issue number 3 of volume 3, a collection of poets from several countries. I was honored to have seven poems appear in this issue and you can find them here: https://www.erothanatos.com/v3i3n10 But if you don’t have the time, one of the included poems was: In a Prior Life…
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ON THE BORDER
It always seems odd how the dual veils that separate day from night, wakefulness from sleep, seem impenetrable in the moment. Yet they both fade, now pellucid, permeable with the simple passage of time. Now dreams are a reality, such as that purports to be, and the worlds intermix, one ceding it to the other,…
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ASHES
When I die, my friend Larry said one morning in the third inning of a double header of stoop ball, I want to be burned, not that I intend it to happen any time soon, but when it does. They burned my grandfather I think it was Dachau, but unlike him, I want to kick…
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SORT OF
She is sifting through photo albums deciding which pictures to keep, which to discard, questioning why she kept some in the first place, blurred, ill composed. She sets very high standards now wondering why some were taken, the sun she says, all wrong here, the background in that one just swallows the subjects. I left…
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LIVING ALONE 鐵笛倒吹 九十四
Why do you climb the mountain and seek entry into the small cabin. Why do you give up your home in the valley. You should be turned away for if you seek a higher understanding you demonstrate to all there is no depth to your practice. A reflection on Case 94 of the Iron Flute…
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It was the other evening, the first of two this month, they say. This only happens once in a blue moon or a couple times every two or three years and often twice in the same year. So once in a blue moon isn’t that long but she said she could feel its pull, everything…
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BOTTOM LINE
They are dying but it really doesn’t matter since the bottom line doesn’t recognize their plight, and never mind that we paid for its invention, for that is the beauty of this age. God is no longer in charge of things, bought and sold, and now assigned to watching the corn grow in central Illinois,…
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MILES FROM NOWHERE
Three hundred fifty miles along today’s highway the giant green sign reads Harriet’s Bluff Road and you cannot help but wonder what stories Harriet’s true road is holding back from telling you.