-
NOAA’S ARK
The rain finally fell today, a delugeworthy of Noah but NOAA assures usthis is only a three day storm and the nextthirty-seven will not mirror it, at leastnot fully they think they believe.The weather here, the outer skinof nature, is too often a petulant childforever not satisfied with how things are,wanting things different, wantingmore, wanting…
-
A PEELING
Why do we persistin peeling the onionas if expecting wewill find anythingother than onion below?We cling to false hopeknowing in the endthere will be nothingdespite our efforts.We are the oneswho curse the coreof the apple asspace taken wherefruit should benever imaginingthere could be nofruit if nature choseto grant our wish.
-
PAST DUE
It seems we have an endlesscapacity for imagining peace,exceeded only by our capacityfor greed and selfishness.We announce our beliefsin equality, equity, diversityand abide them so longas they don’t impede ourdesires, wants, wishes.We offer alms to the poorsolace to the weak, prayersfor the needy so long as theyremain anywhere we do nothave to see or interact…
-
SLAINTE
Ireland should have felt alien,but it never did during our visit,nor had Scotland years earlier.And it wasn’t that I loved Scotchand Irish Whiskey and Guinnessalthough I did all of those, andtraditional Celtic music to boot.What I didn’t know then, whatI wouldn’t learn for a decadewas that my taste for thingsIrish and Scottish was woven,twisted into…
-
NANYO’S WASHBASIN
If you sayyou have seenthe Buddhayou are blind.If you sayyou are a Buddhayou are deluded.If you sayyou wish to bea Buddha youwill never be. A reflection on Case 42 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
-
TWILIGHT
In the twilight of the dove,that moment when the sun’sretreat has only just begunmy shadow stretchesever so slowly into oblivion. I hear it whisper to mea promise to return and Iwant nothing more thanto believe it, for the grantof another day is a smallwish granted, one I makewith the knowledge thatthe genie of age is…
-
SIX FEET UNDER
I remember the afternoonwas cold and damp, with a persistentdrizzle that escapedthe clustered umbrellas,the sky a blanket slowly sheddingthe water that soaked itas it sat out on the clothesline. I suspect you would haveliked it this way, everyone in attendance,everyone shuffling their feet,wanting to look skyward,knowing they would see onlya dome of black umbrella domes.…
-
ON ARRIVING
They arrive after a long flightfrom tyranny, from oppressionfrom the nightmare of endlessfear, from hunger, from faithdenied, from the bottomlessdepths of poverty, scarredmemories etched in their souls,hoping for an ending as muchas wishing for a new beginning.They have been here, a newgeneration, raised on the stories,versed in the painful history,still residual anger bornof love for…
-
DREAMS
It starts quickly and unexpectedly. You do not know when it will start, why, or what it will bring. There are times when even after it is done, you cannot be certain what it was, what it did, what it meant. Often, though, you forget it before you have time to capture it. It is…
-
HUMPTY DUMPTY SAYS
He had long since decided that language was impossible, the English language in particular. He had acquired all manner of dictionaries, and had searched the web, using it as a reverse dictionary. But all too often the language came up short. Words at best approximated what he meant, what he saw, but to get even…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 