-
MAL ANNEE
On the anniversary of the start of a war one feels almost compelled to speak to its horrors, its cause, its effect. But we live in an age where wars are plentiful, when peace is the exception and war seems to loom around every corner. So on this anniversary I watch the snowy egret stare…
-
DROPPING IN
He drops suddenly from a branch of a tree which you don’t see for all of the others. He lands a foot from you, you pause suddenly and he looks up at you, trying to determine if you are friend, foe, or lunch. He concludes you are not lunch and scurries off under a nearby…
-
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…
-
REVERY
Seen from a great distance the rowboat is a speck on a lake which appears far more like an oversized pond. You are so far off you cannot see if there is a person in the boat or it is merely floating about free of its mooring, imagining itself a water-lily basking in the midday…
-
ALONG THE MIDDLE WAY
Each day he stops briefly in the small park along the path, and picks up a pebble which he tucks in the coin pocket of his jeans. There it rests until he comes the pond where he sits on the shore staring out into the heart of the water. He pulls the pebble and tosses…
-
PEBBLE
In this moment there is and can be no other. And when it is gone it never existed much as the next will never exist. So it is with us, a reflection of the ripple of the long sunk stone now nestling the bottom of the pond.
-
A LIFE, LIVED
The moon, a warm summer night, two ducks, a pond, utter stillness, a mirror weeping, deep purple velvet, a feather racing a leaf across the morning sky, a door swinging, a gate without hinges.
-
THREE THOUGHTS (HAIKU)
The pelican dives beneath an ominous sky – this is no Koi pond. Snowy egret stares, his reflection returns it calm pond undisturbed. Haiku is perfect if you adhere to the form in all four seasons.
-
LIGHT
The light always enters unseen, knowing without it nothing can be seen. Light sees the infinite green pallet arrayed on a single leaf, the complex hues of a rainbow painting the white wisps of morning clouds, the blaze red forehead of the moorhen patrolling the pond. Light will always willingly share its vision if we…
-
ARDEIDAE MORNING
He stands still staring at the ever changing surface of the pond, which he knows holds infinite possibility that he does not wish to disturb, lest the moment be forever lost. Nothing else matters to him as he calmly, and ever so slowly, lifts his leg in tree pose, and reaches out with unfurled wings…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 