Thursday, August 26, 2010

Poetry by Ikkyū

clouds endless clouds climbing beyond
ask 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

Friday, August 20, 2010

Classroom Personas

My classroom
Phoenix, AZ
August 2010

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Pissing Off a Local

Sausalito, CA
October, 2008

Monday, August 16, 2010

Meezie Pup

Asleep on my office couch
Alright!! Enough of my self-indulgence sad sack pity crap!!
It's time for a puppy picture.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Roots: how i got over


The last few weeks have felt like I'm passing an emotional kidney stone. Lucky, there always seems to be a great album released that fits perfectly into my emotional landscape. The Roots: how i got over dropped just when I got back from Auschwitz and I have been spinning it almost daily. If you're on Facebook click here for a couple of videos from the album:





They will be playing a sold out show in LA at the Troubadour on Friday, August 20. I'm getting too old for musical road trips. I will be in Phoenix. Such is life.