They say a secluded monastery
High in the mountains was very strict.
How long a monk could withstand
The rigid rules was hard to predict.

Maintaining a vow of silence was part
Of the monastery protocol.
Every ten years the monks were allowed
To utter TWO WORDS. That was all.

After his first ten years, a monk
Went to his master and bowed his head.
His master asked to hear his two words.
"Bed…hard" was all that he said.

"I see," the head monk replied.
The young monk bowed, left the room,
And then returned to finish his tasks--
The grounds as silent as a tomb.

Ten years later the young monk appeared
At his master's door, eager to say
Two more words. "Food…stinks"
Was all that he could say that day.

"I see," the head monk replied.
Ten more long, silent years passed.
The no-longer young monk returned
To utter his words at long last.

This time he said, "I…quit!"
"Well," said the master with a look of disdain,
"I understand why you'd want to leave;
All you ever do is complain."

-by Bob B (3-6-18)

°A story (source unknown) often told in Zen Dharma talks, retold here in verse