Ikkyu is Silent

Ikkyu lost his love, alas

all his spiritual grandeur and awe

plummeted from the Heavens

through darkest earth

to gruesome Hell.

Weeping only tears

he felt it was lifeblood seep away

the tear drops falling from his sunken cheekbones

onto his Zen robe below.

Ikkyu is silent

he feels but cannot mindfully observe his grief

his mastery of mind destroyed

a pain so natural, so powerful

it would shake the Buddha to a broken wreck.

Zen is masterful

Stillness, joy

Peace is the highest aim

But sometimes, we just have to endure

and we suffer.

The Roads Not Taken (after Robert Frost but different)

I went on my usual morning walk

and came upon the usual fork

to the left, or to the right

up the hill, or on the straight

towards the new estate or to the woods

where people live or badgers and the deer

and not being bothered either way

I turned around and made my way back home.

I won't be telling this ages hence.

It could be had I walked the left

that I found treasure, or a path to hell

and had I walked the other route

I'd fall into a ditch

and break my spine, and thus died slowly there.

So in my usual sacrilegious take on Zen

my doing neither, instead turning home

was likely just as perfect as the others

so here I am, I'm happy and at peace

writing up this set of words

and outside, shining, is the sun,

for all of us, not just for me.

Flitting

the noise outside catches my attention

a neighbour is having their drive and lawn uprooted

and replaced with another, bigger driveway

there's a wee digger parked outside our front

no big deal

in fact my son, thirty-odd years ago

would have been so excited.

but I'm not.

No big deal

but I'd prefer the quiet sounds of nature

No big deal

it's just a flitting moment

in a life in the suburbs

just flitting between birth and death

origin and end

infinity and eternity

no origin and no end

no big deal

now I'm getting used to the noise

and a dog is barking

flitting sounds