When

When all is said

and done

there'll be nothing to say

and nothing to do

When all is said

and done

just be quiet

and inactive

Revolution

They sought redemption

from oppression

they tried supplication

and persuasion

they tried protest

civil disruption

and when all these failed

to relieve the situation

they accepted violence

as their road to salvation

---

when all was said and all was done

and millions were laid in dark mass graves

the revolution, so hard won

asked the harder question,

What Now?

And wise answer was there none.

A Different Song

I cannot sing your song my friend

I cannot sing your song

though you lilt and cry and softly sigh

I cannot sing your song

Your song is yours not mine my friend

your song is yours for ever

but my song's in a different key

and your song will be mine never

My song is silence, loudly sung

it echoes over all the Earth

I'll sing it on my dying day

as I've sung it since my birth

Toto Going up the Stairs

He goes up the stairs

like the old man that he is

gingerly, slowly

it must be hard climbing

when you have four legs

not two

One day he won't be able to climb them

another day he won't be able to live bearably

on that day we'll have to take him down the stairs

put him into the cat basket

and take him to the vets

and come back without him

then who will I watch climb the stairs?

Definition

When you are Zen you are not zen

but let's imagine for now

that you are Zen

When you are Zen

you are not political

artistic

creative

entrepreneurial

a teller of heritage tales

When you are Zen

you are not Dada

Surrealism

Leonard Cohen

the Beats

On The Road

Gary Snyder

Easy Rider

Calligraphy

or most of all

haiku or tanka

When you are Zen

you are nothing

or almost nothing

but within that nothing

the fullness of you blossoms

and you are limitless

and all of this

is nonsense of course

Boxed

People fit neatly into their box

like they fit neatly into their suits

or their cool trainers

or their rap lyrics

or their crown jewels

Nice little boxes

wonderful huge boxes

How they love to decorate

and display their box

Zen Koan

What is poetry doing in Zen?

a waste of precious time

writing doodles

haiku is sudoku in words

sudoku is for those who want to waste time

poetry the pretension of grace and intellect

So why do all these Zen folk write poems?

They can't help it, I guess.

There's something about blossom

the yellow moon

and the long trek back to the temple

that switches on the writing gene

watching frogs climb a well

may as well watch a Zen priest

climb into the well

there's no water in the well

you know that well

everyone agrees

Zen is not zen is zen

poetry is not poetry

time is not time

unless it is well wasted