Autumn's Arrival

Come autumn
Every last crow

Seems to know

At least one of

The four Noble Truths

Each caw being a call

Of attachment  

To the pungent scent
Of the past prime earth

And crickets too

In their threnody

Evidence plenty of will

To hold September's
Fading warmth

For all that it’s worth

But a mind settled

Well on the mat
Heeds neither
Chirp nor caw as it

Welcomes autumn's arrival
Serenely consigned  

To the harvest of bounties
That accompanies
 Summer’s demise

What Dogen Zenji Said

The whole moon and 
Entire sky are reflected 
In one dewdrop on the grass
Says Dogen Zenji  
But it can
Only be seen on a cloudy night
By a meditative eye says I

Only the strongest of poems

I make a pact with no one
When I write a new poem
Only the strongest among them

I imagine stands the slightest chance of
Imposing itself on a reader's imagination
Like a contract of adhesion  

A phrase might stick here or there
Notwithstanding protestations
To the contrary yet even still 

Such words remain forever at risk
Of being invalidated or overturned
In good course by a court

Of higher opinion
Including my own

Meditation Poem - Ode to Bodhi

Much like work

Consciousness either

Expands or contracts

To fill the time necessary

For its completion

So behind the wheel

It reaches out to pave

The road ahead
Taking charge of all
That falls between

The peripheries

While here on the mat

It contracts to the size

Of a mustard seed

*  *  *  *

For 9 years

Bodhidharma

Sat on the mat

Gestating 

And then

Finally he
Gave birth

To Nothing 

But Nothing