Ryōkan sd…

Hai Zi — “I carve poetry and clouds”
 
 
Ryōkan sd staff in hand I walk through the gate
 
— old walking staff full of poems.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd the butterfly visits the flower w/ no mind
 
—  the mind is an empty rice bowl.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd call me a dunce living w/ the trees and flowers
 
— we all need water.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd to Etel Adnan, the clouds
 
—  she replied back, the water.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd don’t ask me about illusion or enlightenment
 
I’m just an old fool smiling — I agree w/ him.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd the clouds are his neighbors —
 
unfortunately, they don’t always glide by and evaporate.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd he never worked retail, but if he had
 
— being a beggar is easier. 
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd he missed the bus
 
— but, he wasn’t trying to catch it.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd his bouncing ball is forlorn
 
— everything, including the ball, is a mirror.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd he sits alone on cold nights in an empty room
 
—  the company of everything.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd he was playing hide-and-seek w/ the children
 
— sleeping through the night in the bushes.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd the flowers and moon will guide your way
 
— the moon is always full and the flowers laugh.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd at night, deep in the mountains he sits in zazen
 
— the temple gets in the way of things.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd he’s as pure as a mountain steam
 
— I have to piss.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd the ridicule or praise of worldly people means nothing
 
— no one follows me on Instagram.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd counting days is like snapping one’s fingers
 
— the heart is a beatbox.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd if you want to find the meaning stop chasing after so many things
 
— a faster internet connection is now available.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd day and night the cold wind blows through his robe
 
— yes, monks wear thermos too.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd the thief left “it’ behind — moonlight on his walking staff.
 
 
 
Ryōkan sd all I have to offer you is the tranquility of my hermitage
 
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