dream if bashō 15

dream if bashō
under an ominous
sky sways
but is upright still
then shifts the load
adjusts sandal strap
and goes on




--

dream if bashō 14

dream if bashō
holds a lantern
holds it up then
dips it down
imitating
but never truly
ever a firefly



*

Halloween 2013

Scoundrels Turned into Saviors

On reason I follow Buddha, or Buddhist teaching, is because it preaches total loving-kindness where ultimately nothing is wasted or rejected.  It even goes to say that Devadatta, one of Buddha's greatest opponents -- a betrayer, slanderer, and attempted murderer of Buddha, would not be left defeated, but rather be turned into a Buddha in a future lifetime, because of opposition and connection to the Buddha. It would be like saying in Christianity, that Judas, betrayer of Christ, would be a future Christ because of his connection to Christ and what was said and done for Christ. All renewed, scoundrels turned into Saviors.

153. In his wanderings throughout beginning less time, the fool is wrapped up in his grasping existence. As a wedge is driven out by another wedge, so the fool is led gradually into abandoning it.

    Lankavatära Sutra
    90 - 96

dream if bashō 13

dream if bashō
stepping in cremation
ashes and bone
regards the remains
like cherry blossoms
or new fallen
snow



.

手にとらば消ん / 涙ぞ熱き / 秋の霜

Poem - O

1 buddha meets 1 buddha
without comment

 

O

 

1 being meets 1 being
endlessly



--

"Stop, stop! Do not speak. The ultimate truth is not even to think."

Amban
Cheng Ch'ing-Chih
49. The Gateless Gate

 

 

Poem - it rained / all day

it rained
like grey hair
all day while
i was growing
claws

----


San Francisco
1991

dream if bashō 12

dream if bashō
cannot be found and you
feel abandoned
but when you are sure
your story has no 'back' or 'towards'
you have found home
you have found bashō




.

dream if bashō 11

dream if bashō
dances and jokes
at the edge of a cliff
while laughing
so hard his hat
falls off then sits down
with a thump



>

dream if bashō 10

dream if bashō
peers through gloom
of a moody inn
you see now
layers of smoke
and opinions
as empty as they are




----

Poem - Far Away

never late
never early

this iron cold
water
on my face

no roof to hide
discomfort

brightness
a smile
that never goes away

-----

tsuyu toku toku / kokoromi ni ukiyo / susugabaya

dream if bashō 9

dream if bashō
looking into the fire
sees in the hot coals
cities and towns
and all people
even you there
sleeping in confusion



-----

gu ni kuraku / ibara o tsukamu / hotaru kana

Poem - Noon

dreams of worriers
fade away into the haze

buzzing insects

only problem remains
being the traveler

accepting this undeniable
harsh solitary beauty


----

Nowhere
Noon

dream if bashō 8

dream if bashō
and you are staying
on a dark night
in an abandoned haunted
cemetery
all grief and plans
are buried there



\

Aki no kaze/ Ise no hakahara/ nao sugoshi

Poem - Observation after Walking a Long Time and Being Aware of Being Alone

bashō isn't it funny

you expect to die on the road
or get arrested or murdered

but often you only get lonely
then sense a quiet guilt

you'd rather be something




-----

Nowhere with Hills
Oct 2013

Poem - Noted on the Way to Over 6 Hills or More

a shingle stuck in the earth
on the side of the road

coated in mud with a child's
writing in pencil still legible

'I WEL NVR FGT YU'
'RIP SNWY'

a dog's grave
far from his home



-----

At the foot of a climbing road
alone by an abandoned corner
Oct 2013

dream if bashō 7

dream if bashō
admiring the glitter
of a dewy spider's web
motions to you to look
look look because
he is in there and
you too



x

dream if bashō 6

dream if bashō
feeling sick and you ill
adjusts his wide hat
resting at the crook
of a zig zagged trail
sees the full moon is
yellow and chuckles



"

“The moon is brighter since the barn burned”

Poem - Written on Leaving a Small Rural Town

clean blue sky
they throw a stone at me

i am not bashō
but neither was bashō
bashō


----

Outside of Town
Nowhere
Oct 2013

Poem – Written on the Occasion of Being Shaded by a Hedge

bashō slept here
rumpled grass

bashō walked here
footprints  in dust

all proof and things
gone later

as lasting as grass
or dust



*


Nowhere
Afternoon, Oct 2013

Poem - Written on the Side of the Trail

if you want to go with bashō
you can go with bashō




.

On the road past a glowing field
Mid-Morning
Oct 2013

dream if bashō 5

dream if bashō
finding home in nowhere
leads you so nicely
through deep forests
and up tall passes
the sun peeping
happy on everything




'

dream if bashō 4

dream if bashō
in the company
of robber's questions
dispels their fears
with tranquility
and points to where
you can sit




^

dream if bashō 3

dream if bashō
holds still in a gust
that shoots snowflakes
around like crazy wheels
but he is not
blinded by the display
nor distracted




*

iza saraba / yukimi ni korobu / tokoromade

dream if bashō 2

dream if bashō
in a boat at predawn
leans down and touches
the surface of a
black lake and you
in the back of the boat
and cold but amazed
seeing this ripple



- -

Poem - you don't say goodbye

you don't say goodbye
you say hello next time you see someone

never angry or afraid
open to living with things as they are

it is a dream
with real day implications

so pick up the pail
go to the top of the hill and come back down



------

dream if bashō

dream if bashō
ahead on the right
with a paper lantern
looks down the path
that twists and rises
smiles between drops
of rain



.
.

Poem - Fall

i remember

my son
found a red leaf

he gave it to me
and we took it

later I found
the leaf

in my truck

more precious
than a bar of gold


----

oct 2013

Shattering

A great huge gust of wind blows. I see a crow flying up high in the sky, almost recklessly. It is almost as sense of shattering -- but I know I do not understand these things. The crow is fine.

I think about Chung Tzu, or Lao Tzu.

-----

quail meadow
2013

Poem - I get to decide/ how long I want to cry

I get to decide
how long I want to cry

I get to decide
how long I want to be feeling happy

I decide
who I am, and if it is good or bad

I decide
what I want to do, busy or not

I am free to
see what I see, know what I know, talk how I talk, go where I go

I get to get ready
for Life, and then do it

I get to meet new people
experience them, and love the ones that are here

I get to do this every new day
and every day is new


-----

La la
:-)

Poem - rain forecast for jupiter this afternoon

diamond iceberg station
rain forecast for jupiter this afternoon
calls for diamond hail

please wear ballistic suits

a reminder:
persons on the surface are prohibited
from collecting jovian diamonds

this will ruin
the earth's economy



.

Poem - say hello nicely/ and goodbye

get a fish
feed it

buy a ball
kick it

learn a tune
sing it

go up the hill
then down

say hello nicely
and goodbye


---

Quail Meadow
Irvine
2013

Poem - Illusions

life goes on
and it isn't so bad

my illusions falling
i thought i was

a pirate
or a general
or a lover
or a hero
or a writer

  i close my eyes
  travel through space

  my shower
  is in the amazon

  my bedroom
  is under the sea

then a truck could
go by
reminds me there is
none of this

every image
and thought i have
like a bubble

but still

  i close my eyes
  travel through space

  my shower
  is in the amazon

  my bedroom
  is under the sea

Poem - Three Bits

a man
plays when
he his a fool

and prays
when he
is empty

but he is
neither man
nor fool

*

the projection
here has no
answers

but in virtue
it appearing
existent solid

and in fact
it is expression
of radiance

the projection
has no answers

*

anger
moody doubt

a wet book
afternoon rain

happy
contented faith

a wet book
afternoon rain



.

Poem Dedicated to the NSA: Spies Need Secrets to Find

if surveillance were 100%
and we could not move an inch without being observed

if they could read our brain waves
and every kind of thought without killing us

it would be like the house of mirrors
swallowing itself into itself into itself into itself

it shows that to be spied on
the 'powers that be' must leave us some space to be secret

so they can have something to spy on


-----

Dedicated to the NSA
October 2013

Poem - a presons's private/ metronome

garbage rattles
musically

as the freeway
coasts along

rhythmic tapping
on a dumpster

a person's private
metronome


*


müll rasseln
musikalisch

wie der autobahn
küsten entlang

rhythmische klopfen
auf einem müllcontainer

eine person privaten
metronome


------

Quail Meadow
October 2013

Poem - in the nocturnal reality of life/ sunrise at kettleman city

everyone was young and transparent
and someone wore a cream colored suit
like ice cream and the girls
had poofy hair and tight dresses with stripes

we would be kings and queens of industry
in a miami vice themed dream

then almost 30 years have gone by
loaded with meaning and getting heavier
at times a black oil truck driving at midnight
between LA and SF

i see in the cab is the driver with no complaints
in the nocturnal reality of life

sunrise at kettleman city



.

Poem - except the stars as a nice pillow / and the moon as a blanket

he said we could find a pureland or
a holy vision of the highest
in vegas
and damn he's right
mahasiddhas everywhere even the crows
calling out all day fighting for food
i hear them cawing out crow mantra
as the big guys walk by
without even a place to sleep tonight
except the stars as a nice pillow
and the moon as a blanket


---

for Latif

Poem - i'm in the right place

i'm in the right place
where leaf blowers sound like opera arias
sung by angels

where captain kirk
looks like st francis of assisi
and is a congressman

where fear just lost status
as essential and now

we all have lots of yummy
gumdrops in our pockets

----

Quail Meadow
Oct 03 2013

Poem - Tree Trimming in Laguna Beach / Élagage des Arbres à Laguna

parts taken out of the tree
one limb missing i found to be
lyrical and intriguing the way  it grew
i was going to hand it a piece of art there
under it's crook for delicate shelter

i remind myself trees do not have feelings
nor do they have blood
the sap flowed like yellow blood
to the sidewalk
the poet imagines strange things


pièces prises sur l'arbre
un membre manquant j'ai trouvé pour être
lyrique et intrigant de la façon dont elle a grandi
je m'apprêtais à remettre une œuvre d'art il
sous sa houlette pour s'abriter delicate

je me rappeler les arbres n'ont pas de sentiments
et ils n'ont pas le sang
la sève a coulé comme le jaune de sang
sur le trottoir
le poète imaginer des choses étranges


0


october 2
2013