today is broken
and yesterday was broken
tomorrow will be broken

but i love each of these anyway
and everyone in them
because that is what love is all about

if i keep caring i might discover
today is not broken nor yesterday
nor tomorrow



3.29.20

when the wind picks up
and i am alone on the way back

my eyes remind me
in what i see of a mustang horse

a running horse in the sky
that can bring my love back to me

3rd day of spring
hearing the tolling of a bell
sounding soft and far away
you can't help but listen

like all of us in seclusion
in a time of plague
whatever you do
that is who you are


*

everything i did and said was deniable
except this what i just wrote



*

they asked me if i would rather be hungry or sad
i told them i would bear any misery on a full stomach
just like everyone else in the world



*

we've come to this moment
for me to lie and say i can play the guitar
and after i've hoisted it and we've taken our pictures
oh my fingers are so tired my wrist so stiff from playing all night





*

not every man is a genius in his own hour
nor a hero in his own house

it is just the way it is if it is
not be formed for the age you live in

so everything you do is off
there is no closing the circle because

you might live with someone or alone
but either way you are a coward

but even cowards strive for better days
some find peace in what seems to be disaster

even courage
even faith


..

"If that is how you recognize it." says Lao Tzu.

"The highest path includes not being recognized for anything." I remark.

"If that is how you recognize it." says Lao Tzu.



-----

St Louis Park

sometimes the gate we go through
is a locked door or a broken promise
the highest path can include
being dismissed or having no recognition

the life filled with disasters
which is perfect
stains spills and breaks
crooked tables and burnt meals
big hugs laughs and tears
immense in love over all
through lies deception and fear
compassion over all

Without a Cloud in the Sky

It is a bright day, just after noon, without a cloud in the sky.

"The sky is not made out of sky." I say to Chung Tzu.

Chung Tzu hums and pets the cat.

I decide to wait a minute.

"The sky is not made out of sky." I say to Lao Tzu.

Lao Tzu looks surprised, but keeps looking out the window at squirrels in the yard.

I wait a little bit more.

"The sky is not made out of sky." I say to Henry Ford.

There is a brief pause.

"What driveling nonsense!" says Henry Ford, looking over the newspaper.


----

Florida Ave South
St Louis Park

Stove Parts Says 'Hold Onto Your Hat!" plus Things in Trees

crow in a tree
punctuation mark
to never ending vastness

I put my pen down.

"Hoo hoo!" says Chung Tzu "Saying there's this or that in the sky. How grand!"

"Hold onto your hat!" says Stove Parts.

So I write:

cow in a tree
punctuation mark
to never ending vastness

"Moo!" says Chung Tzu.

"Now you're just making fun." says Stove Parts.

I write:

clown in a tree
honk honk! honk honk!
honk honk honk!

"Gah ha ha ha!" laughs Chung Tzu, holding his belly, wiping tears from his eyes. "GOOSE!"

"I've had enough of you both!" says Stove Parts, as he leaves.


***

Afternoon
Minnetonka
1.29.20

He's Forgetful Says Chung Tzu

"Hello Mr. Pavarotti." I say in the morning, to Pavarotti.

Pavarotti just stares at me.

"He's forgetful." says Chung Tzu. "The only way he remembers things is when he acts rambunctiously."

Pavarotti jumps up and grabs a can of silly string, and starts covering me with it.

"I remember you now." he says, as the can sprays and sprays.



_____

St Louis Park

i was the sunday night date
last in line and i knew it

after we said goodbye
she sat in her car and texted

she was in contact with the
someone who she really loved

but i understood i needed
to get out even for a sunday date

she didn't matter and i didn't either

Henry Ford Who

"Nobody likes him! Why should they?" says Henry Ford, looking up from the newspaper. "He's a horrible person!"

Chung Tzu hums and looks out the window at bunny tracks in the snow.

"Who is?" I ask.

"Who?" says Henry Ford.

"WHO IS?"

"I don't know!" says Henry Ford.



-----

Florida St
St Louis Park

Leaches and Drinking

I look up from the book I was reading. "Wow! Did you know a leach has a three-jawed mouth, two hearts, two circulatory systems, five pairs of eyes, 32 brains, and 10 stomachs?"

Chung Tzu sits there, to let it all sink in.

"Amazing! And you thought you were special!" says Stove Parts.

***

I meet Broken Pot in a tavern. Broken Pot gets drunk.

"You have the ability to be a drunk, how can you stop drinking?" says Broken Pot.

We walk to the highest hill. It is cold and late, the moon is high above us. The wind blows through us so our teeth chatter.

"By discarding all thinking. By discarding all ideas of good or bad towards drinking."

We walk back to the tavern. By the time we get back, Broken Pot is sober.

peace peace peace peace

i'm sleeping there's no dream
the mind like a flashing light

with the absence of thoughts
and unencumbered from ego

there is peace peace peace peace
in each peace was happily ever after

wakening to a morning with
a quarter inch of new snow



**

did anything else matter / after you saw those few snow flakes

did anything else matter
after you saw those few snow flakes

did you see them
widely scattered and wandering

each one appearing as if

with no purpose
each one with no aim


____

Evening
St Louis Park

Chung Tzu Asks Do You have a Fire in Your Head?

"I can use my negative thinking to out-think my negative thinking!" I exclaim.

"Hmmm. Let me see. What is fire? Can fire burn water?" wonders Chung Tzu, "Can fire burn fire? Or fire burn air? Or earth? Oh my!"

"Fire burns wood!"

"Just like the thoughts seem to burn in your mind. But do you have a fire in your head?" asks Chung Tzu.


-----

1.18.20

bodhicitta shining / like a light on the light shining

bodhicitta shining
like a light on the light shining

scripture or non scripture
each cherished

every action out and in
in and out

coming around in a great circle
in endless circles



***