Before the after
now is present.
It was never
like this before
it will not be
again anytime soon
for there is
no time soon
that has yet to be
or just gone by.
After the before
we find ourselves
here and now.
present
WHERE?
Is it the trip
or the arriving
that most matters,
or is it simply what
you expect once you
are there, if there
is where you expected,
for expectations are too
often misplaced and assumptions
reflect desire not truth.
In the end it hardly matters,
for you can never be
anywhere but where
you happen to find yourself.
ONCE
It was easier being Buddhist
when I was young, despite
the fact I had no good idea
what Buddhism truly was.
for a child the moment is all
there is, the past so short that
it means nothing, the future something
that will arrive as and when it wishes.
For a child, things will go wrong,
and do so with fair regularity,
but children are also physicists,
and the Lorenz effect guarantees
that it was never really their fault,
and when all else fails, they
simply blame karma.
THEN
Before the after
now is present.
It was never
like this before,
it will not be
again anytime soon,
for there is
no time soon
that has yet to be
or just gone by.
After the before
we find ourselves
here and now.
WHEN OR IF
In a clockless world
all life is an approximation
and clear boundaries evaporate
like the mist off a morning pond.
In that world this moment
seeps into the next,
night becomes day,
only to return again.
The Buddha knew this
for in his clockless world
all that existed
was this moment
an instant that was,
as well, eternity.
TEMPUS FUGIT
The problem with bringing then
into now is that now slips away
and then no longer really exists.
You may wish all you like for summer
to remain, but Autumn demands her due
and even the leaves grow tired
and need that final rest.
Do not deny the clouds, but treat them
like a stray thought, let them
be present, and let them leave
and take what they offer
without complaint, for they
are fragile and will flee
like the kitten, and you
will never be able to coax
a return until they are ready.
Now, where were you?
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.
