clouds endless clouds climbing beyondask nothing from words on a page
poems should come from bare ground
night falling on night falling on black landscape
sometimes all I am is a dark emptiness
that I can’t hide in the sleeves of my own robes
nobody understands why we do what we do
this cup of sake does
a woman is enlightenment when you’re with her and the red
thread
of both your passions flares inside you and you see
I was like an old leafless tree until we met green buds burst
and blossom
now that I have you I’ll never forget what I owe you
for us no difference between reading eating singing
making love not one thing or the other
mirror facing a mirror
nowhere else
only one koan matters
you
you stand inside me naked infinite love
the dawn bell rips my dreaming heart
I think of your death I think of our touching
my head quiet in your lap
this hungry monk chanting by lamplight is Buddha
and he still thinks of you
why is it all so beautiful this fake dream
this craziness
why?
Poetry: Crow With No Mouth: Ikkyū 15th Century Zen Master Versions by Stephen Berg
Photo: Vaiden & Will’s Wedding - Phoenix, AZ - November 25, 2006
