Poems from Lotus Garden retreat 2009

“I drink and I smoke”

I drink and I smoke,
staring death in the face,
which makes each moment
of life my practice…
which makes each moment
of practice so precious…

Not trying to kill myself,
not trying to stay alive.
Honing the edge 

that cuts the mundane.

. . . . . . . . . ;.

Dwight David Eisenhower Discovers Suchness

“Everything is more the way it is now
than it ever has been.” Dwight David Eisenhower

.. . . . . . . … . .

Exquisite Simplicity

Running out of words, my poems
are blank pieces of paper.

Who said that?

When things are beyond words,
experience merges with phenomena.

I become a kindly stranger and no one
remembers my name.
Someone opened a door for someone…
someone gave someone a cigarette….bus fare…
someone helped an old lady across the street.

The world is one heart, of which we all
have a little piece….
better give it away.