Poetry Scroll I

When I am There,
I'd rather be Somewhere,
But not There.

Why not stay Here?

Because I came
Here from There.

Besides, Here is
The Somewhere I
Wanted to be.

Be after I
Was There.

How can I just be Here
& not There
Or Somewhere.

With each breath
I choose where I am.

Through the breath
I will come to realize:
Here is There.
Here is Somewhere.
Here is Everywhere.
Where?

This breath.

---

Untitled

Past memories
Future dreams
Present's baggage.
This moment.

---

Noise, telephones, meetings.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Anxieties, perceptions, delusions.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Words, empty words, false promises.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Fame, money, prestige.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Up the ladder, down the ladder.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Past, baggage, anger.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Future, delusions, bitterness.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Who, what, where.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Young, old, dead.
Silence, breath, Mu.

Past, present, future
, Present, present, present.

---

! ? .

This is it!

This is it?

This is it.

---

Untitled

Dew on the morning grass.
Sparkling diamonds.
A fortune spent before noon.

--Joe Camperson

Hey, Basho! Han-Shan!
A cricket lives in my yard.
So why do you wander?

Receding hairline!
Layman becoming a monk.
And I'm half way there!

Bottom of the ninth
The score tied--bases loaded.
The bat connects--crack!

On a round cushion,
Growing in age and wisdom,
Tasting the warm wind.

Living is kinhin!
In a straight line step by step.
Circling all the time.

Fresh ball of moist clay
In the mater potter's hands.
What shape will you be.

Gently listen to
The echo of birds chanting
The praises of Now.

The autumn silence
Shattered by crisp spinning leaves,
Turning somersaults.

Hey! Mr. Mockingbird?
Are you really what you say--
An imitation?

Crow! Stop that noise!
You are not permitting me
to wallow in my thoughts.

You say, "God is love.
And we are held in God's hands."
Then why do you squirm?

--Christian Gohl

Mountain trail--breath
Going up, going down
Deep lake below.

Tear down the fences,
leave the gates.

I cut the grass--
Green smells
Nightfall Stars
A child
Again.

Rock on the ground
Moon in the cosmos--
Breathe this.

The unreturned call--
Silent gaze
Two crossed paws.

Gatha

May the
Big Buddha
Moon & Sun
Rise & Fall
Each day
In your heart

Gary Snyder's Real Work

We can't be whole
Living outside the mind.

We can't be whole
Living inside the mind.

We are whole Being
All for one
&

One for all.

That's the real work
Joining us all
To each thing.

Two Poems

My dog is playing.
She leaps through summer
sunshine,
And seeks no wisdom.

Spider sits zazen.
The spring wind tears
down her web.
She spins, spins and sits.

--Spencer Prokop

The World Is My Zendo

At the start I bought books and filled my shelf
I read for hours and sat for minutes
Slowly my bookshelf shrinks
And my practice expands
But, still I cannot answer
"Why does a flower bloom?"

Perhaps
Just reading
Just sitting
Just practice
and a flower blooms.

--David Rush

watch
your step;
the dogshit
in your path
is really
diamonds

Watch Your
(part II)

on the other hand,

watch your step;
the dogshit
in your path
is really
dogshit

no wonder my hands stink,
cleaning this stuff
off my feet
& looking for
diamonds

Listening to the Ants Scream?

daruma's
right eye
has opened;
now,
what is left?

Zoozen

daruma's ants
chuang tzu's butterfly
hyakujo's fox
joshu's dog
nansen's cat
ten bulls
my ass

If By Sitting

it has been said,
"if by sitting,
one becomes a buddha,
then all frogs are buddhas!"
at the rate I am going,
I will be lucky
to make
frog!

Three Dimensions

our space is defined,
not by three dimensions,
"out there"
not by height,
width,
or depth;
but by the dimensions
movement
of mind, thought, self
. along three possibilites:
greed,
hatred,
ignorance.
greed - movement of mind towards:
lustdesiregraspingseekingwantingwishinghopingclinging...
hatred - movement of mind away:
fearwithdrawalrepulsionfleeingangeravoidanceremoval...
ignorance - non-movement of mind:
inertiastupididityrigiditystasis.
ah...
"you cannot seek it
by taking thought;
you cannot find it
by not taking thought"
what to do then,
what to do?

--by Rex Robertson

Listen to yourself,
to the music of birds,
to the flickering of stars,
to the destination of clouds;
listen to the out-of-breath bicyclist,
to the walker's walk;
to a day in the park;
listen to this moment
in the fervor of living,
as though there is some peace,
some stillness
in everything; listen...
To the young man and woman
lying in the grass
holding each other,
holding each other;
listen to a place away from wanting
and going after
and trying;
listen to yourself;
to the park in summer,
winter, spring, and fall,
while you are
stopping
a moment
between this meeting and that,
between your job and
your exercise class,
between...
Stop for a long moment,
be dazzled
by the world:
by everything around you,
within you.

--Neal Abramson

 

 

Mu

I saw it on a billboard
Advertising beer:
You are your own dog.

--Margaret Allyson

One hour up the trail
I would've whooped for joy
If I'd had the energy

Kinhin up a mountain
Where the balance of each step
Demands
Attention

Where the buzzards glide
You hear the wind in
their wings
Hope they don't shit in my soup
8 hrs. & 10 miles for 3 gal. of H2O
Just to be on a mountain
Well-
I be exhausted
I be sore
I be happy
to be
Here

--Jean Blucher

Untitled

A tricycle is parked
On the front porch.
A child is sleeping.

--Anthony Hunter

In the spirit of Kinhin,
I cross the lawn
To get the morning paper,
Grass in my toes.

In the spirit of Kinhin,
I walk across the office
To the printer

. Kinhin in the library.
Kinhin in the grocery.
Kinhin along the downtown
sidewalk.
In the parking garage,
To the front door,
To supper,
To bed.

--Mark Peterman

Brick pathway; rain falling.
I hurry to the doorway.

Mat left outside,
I wipe my shoes.

Wet footprints imprint the carpet.
The difference is in the placement.

Spiritual Journey

Remembering childhood
and the promises.
Hearing...hollow truths.
Later, unprepared
for the message of Zen,
Hearing empty....truths.

Reality

Wet stepping stones; rain falling.
Onward through the entryway.
Footprints press on garden mosses.
A backward glance.
Which is real,
Water inside or outside the gate?

--Ivy Willy