Interplay of emptiness

Interplay of emptiness 

Of how things are 

And how they become 

Wind is empty so are mountains 

Wind pushes me

Mountains push me 

Rain is empty so are thoughts 

Rainfall tickles me

So do thoughts

Light is empty and so no-light

Brightness reveals

And so does the dark 

It all plays through emptiness 

Forgot to become or remembering

Impossible or always

sometimes even a shining path is laced with shadows

sometimes even a shining path is laced with shadows

place your steps carefully on the way that goes ever upward

move with purpose through every deep dale or on a wind swept ridge

where you could fall

beset by the tumult of emotions thoughts and will

all on the shining path 

***

our collective grief

our collective grief
hosted in the heart
burning candle 
night like a shrine

morning back into

the breach

88

Add the Sum to the Product of these Three

Add the sum to the product of these three:
Old Age, Sickness, and Death --
crowning the impermanence of all things;
born into the contest of Samsara.

88

this is the day oh striving hope

this is the day oh striving hope

blessed for what is full of wanting and what is not

you are the phantom in every thought

and lighting everything else dramatically

searchlight of the mind sweeping

beauty found beauty lost

always more about to be

quickly comes and goes

imperishable encouraging

— —

CM Evans

every sweet thing

every sweet thing 

footprints in your mind
trodden on endless beauty
we are accustomed to making marks

*

tell me things i don't know

tell me things i don't know
give me the surprises 
and everything i thought would never happen
show me how narrow my mind is

it is the only way 

to have a big mind by constantly 

breaking everything thought to be fixed

realizing this isn't a threat but a huge view 

then we can be like

kids again seriously at play 

and this kind of mind makes imagination's toil

rarely fail to persuade or save 

88

Will you please answer that phone

Will you please answer that phone
But if it is for me tell them I am in Africa

Discovering the true source of the Nile

Because John Hanning Speke was a liar

*

He wrote his name boldly at the top of the sheet

He wrote his name boldly at the top of the sheet
He wrote his name boldly at the bottom

He wrote his name large in the middle 

He tore the page up and started again 

**

The pleasant hours fly by much too soon

The pleasant hours fly by much too soon

If we are enamored with drudgery 

So move lightly from task to task 

Never let one own you 

*

The man went to the woods to gather sticks

The man went to the woods to gather sticks

Instead he found the woods 

He was happy to wander all day 

He came home with a leaf in his hat 

***

The heap of fallen leaves was set on fire

The heap of fallen leaves was set on fire

The smoke drifted up into the sky

When flames reached wetness and damp

There'd be hissing and puffs of blue smoke 

***

Schools for ladies teach charm and grace

Schools for ladies teach charm and grace

While boys want to wrestle and climb trees

There will come a time when a boy can't decide

To return charm for grace or to have tree for free

**

Wood is best for making toys and blocks

Wood is best for making toys and blocks

Metal is good for guns and bombs

Flowers are best for wooing love

And soothsayers for solving sphinxes riddles

**

The pirates seized the crew of the lost ship

The pirates seized the crew of the lost ship

Then the crew seized the pirates' ship

They sailed away in opposite directions

Wondering how that managed to happen 

**

Bring your problems to the wise chief

Bring your problems to the wise chief

He may look at each one weighing them carefully

If you can explain them rationally enough

He may decide to put one like a feather in his hat

***

He ordered peach pie with ice cream

He ordered peach pie with ice cream

28 pies with 28 gallons of vanilla 

He fed every squirrel in the yard

Plus every raccoon and fox that night

***

Cut the pie into large parts

Cut the pie into large parts

Make it two slices because there are us

You and me with an old ticking clock

The heirloom clock does not eat

**

Her purse was full of useless trash

Her purse was full of useless trash

And in it was no ID 

In a small notebook in the side pocket

She had wrote I HATE YOU at least 300 times

**

Press the pants and sew a button on the vest

Press the pants and sew a button on the vest

It is a blind date not a hanging 

If you bring flowers get real ones 

A silk rose the size of your head would be strange

88