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INVASION
The light has fadedand the wetland lies underits mantle of faint starlight. The birds are there, wecan hear them, but our eyesdo not allow us to see them,despite our desire to havemore time with them. They can see us, in our well lit homes, staring out,but they do not want particularly to see us. To us they…
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HOME, NIGHT
Living in a bamboo grove, she said,is very much like living in an old house. Look up at noon, into the canopyand imagine you see rays of lightpiercing the ill-thatched roof. Listen to the growling winds of autumnand hear the ghosts of the old housemaking their way up creaking stairs. And when you truly find…
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THE MISSING KEY
You said you’d leave a keyunder the mat on the front stoop,or was it taped atop the light fixturejust to the right of the door jamb top? Well I checked both placesand there was no key to be found,so perhaps it slipped out, got kickedand someone absentmindedly took it and saved it meaning one dayto…
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TWO MONKS ROLL UP THE BLINDS 無門關 二十六
Both are askedto bring more lightinto the hall. Together eachrolls up his shade.One’s action is gainone’s action is loss there is only one shadethere is only one light. aA reflection on case 26 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) koans.
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ON ARRIVAL
This morning arrivedwith a painful slowness, the slothof irregular dreams refusing to concedeto the light struggling to creep aroundthe blinds that hide the oversize windows. It had been that sort of night,sleep arriving and departing witha frustrating lack of constancy, my bodyuncertain of its proper placement ,the mattress offering no easy solutions. Conceding the failure…
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NIGHT
In the end, it always comes down to night, regardless of the moon, if any, it’s faint light drowned by the city’s oppressive glow, headlights, streetlights and once, spotlights painting the sky, traceable down to that new place we don’t wish or can’t afford, would never dare to go. Death is omnipresent, his shadow is…
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BROKEN DAY
Morning slowly encroaches on your dreams, eroding images despite your tightening grasp. Clear lines blur, become hazy and dissipate bleached by the first light creeping around the shades. The dreams do not care for they will arise again when they choose and this is for them a mere inconvenience. You are the loser here for…
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KEYS
He sits, suited in black, with 88 keys at his command, and we fall silent. He opens the lock of joy, the lock of sadness, the lock of elation, the lock of tears, the lock of laughter, the lock of darkness, the lock of light, the lock of surprise, the lock of compassion, the lock…
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DAIZUI SEES A TURTLE 鐵笛倒吹 十七
If you see a turtle does it seem odd it wears bones outside? Does the turtle live within these bones and where do you go to hide from bright light.. If you place a sandal on your head which end will be walking? A reflection on Case 17 of the Iron Flute Koans
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Two Monks Roll Up Blinds 無門關 二十六
Both are asked to bring more light into the hall. Together each rolls up his shade. One’s action is gain one’s action is loss there is only one shade there is only one light. A reflection on case 26 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate)
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an old writer and his words 