What will you do
Tiny Tim;
what will you do
when you’re grown
and big like your daddy?

I’ll be working on the moon
harvesting moon rice;
and I’ll send you moonbeams back
in cans
that you can put in your room
to glow all night

What will you do
Little Lin;
what will you do
when you’re grown
and big like your mom?

I’ll be teaching earth sciences
at the University of Pluto;
I’ll be teaching aliens
to learn from the rights and wrongs
of our human race

What will you do
tiny Amardeep;
what will you do
when you’re grown
and big like your Uncle Jasbir?*

I’ll be building bridges, Uncle;
I’ll be building bridges
between Mars and Jupiter
and space tunnels
between Earth and Saturn

see how life flows
how time embraces
things pass, and the words we use
to justify things
to eternalize, to spiritualise
they trap us, do you observe;
beings pass, things lose their joints
bodies relinquish their hold;
and even space withdraws into itself
all things it brings forth
if you observe,
dear wayfarer, and friend
what appears before and what stays and what subsides;
not led in your mind
manacled by Thick Books and Principles
and The Book of Words and Light of Truths
if you put all things aside
(you need nothing in all worlds)
and you observe
you see all things glide
like the cloud that appears in the sky
dances with winds, not to please anyone
and then passes;
and so do you, so do all things pass;
and always there is the stillness that embraces
do you observe

in your painting
there is the rock
that nature’s licked into two plates
and that slides into the lake;
the rock carries with it the branches
with its show of flowers
like a suitor come to woo the hands of the gentle lake
and in the clear water below
two fish are active in their element -
they are objective, they are like scholars

and I am here, dear Bada Shenren,
three hundred years after you
(the dead have ever been my friends)
I too am come out again to see the world
like you did after forty years,
dear Zhu Da -
but like then as now, the world is not kind
to the recluse who comes to meet it

the holy home (and possibly strict)
has its dining adorned with a sign:
Pray before you eat
The sign may be literal, or invisible

at the grocer's today I saw
this sign pasted on to a big box
of loose sumptuous dates:
*"Pay before you eat"

1
Grisham John
my artist friend
is a sensitive chap
so a year after my wife dies
he gets me a date

2
Turns out at the restaurant
the woman walks up to me
like she were a floating jelly -
her left eye flying, her right eye sinking
her arms wild like horses
and her nose tripled;
each finger like a bullet
and she looks in all directions all at once

3
I call Grisham John on his cellphone
and I roar:
You paired me up with a hideous woman!

Relax! he intones
*You either hate 'em or love 'em -
that's how it is with a Picasso

what I want to know
what I’d really like to know
before I drop down dead
or crawl into amnesia or alzheimer’s
or whatever;
what I really want to know
(if I can remember it;
let me see if I can recall it,
refresh please….
try and retrieve it from the backwaters of my mind)
yes, what I really want to know
about all this talk about
bad people and all the bad things all the bad guys do
and all this talk about all these selfishness and greed
and all these Look at them! Look at these!
And all this: I don’t know what the world’s coming to!
and all this talk about the vices and bad habits
all the bad things other people do;
what I really want to know is
if everybody’s so good
(O you angels on earth;
O you goody-good brothers and sisters)
pointing to everyone else –
hey, you earthlings,
if everyone of you is so good
as you all appear in each conversation and post –
where are the evil guys
and all the bad guys
and all the bad things you point out,
where are they all coming from
if each one of you is so good?
that’s what I want to know
before I kick the bucket
that is
if I can remember or hear
what I’d wanted to know when the answer comes

See, Diogenes is in the market
It is busy, crowded
usual Sunday crowd
busy, busy at the market;
some come to buy meat
and some to pick pockets
and some to ogle

see - suddenly Diogenes
jumps into the crowd
and he shouts:
"Men! Men! Quick - quick!
We need some help!"

And 6 men jump forward
to help, 6 sturdy men
all strong, eager and ready

and Diogenes spits in their faces
spits as quickly as he can
and swiftly crouches as low as he can:
*"I asked for men!
Not scoundrels!"

Hey, he’s dead -
just leave him
and come with me;
I’ll get you another one -
he’ll be warm
and let you rest your head on his broad chest
comfy and nice.
Just dump this one;
he’s been dead long enough
and will not return to give you a hug
bring back some flowers, bread or meat
or to annoy you with unwashed dishes.
Get up and stop this mourning
and trust me
for I’ve got a bow and arrow
and rarely do I miss my mark;
and though my name may rhyme with Stupid
and I may be portrayed in the galleries
as a mere child
trust me
I know more about these matters of the heart
than generations of men and women
who have ever lived on this planet earth
and who have ever loved
and who are all now buried
or fired up into ash;
so come,
sweetheart –
and, in the language of the poets,
I’ll show you fresh green pastures
or an ocean full of fish, if you like;
or, to pursue folk-imagery if you prefer,
let sleeping dogs lie, as they might say –
so let dead men rest in pieces where they are;
you come with me now and I’ll use my arrow
to pin down for you a suitable one –
a man alive, whole and who can return kisses
when you give one;
come with me,
sweetheart – the living don’t call me Cupid for nothing…
and if you don’t come
then you deserve the name that rhymes with mine.
Come, we’ll go catch what you want;
and these days, we can even internet you one.

1
when first I saw moving images
of bugs and insects and butterflies
on a screen in the classroom
I screamed that I might need
to go see the school nurse
but my teacher said:
'Don’t worry, kid;
that’s television…'


2
when I saw images on my mobile phone
I burped aloud
my sense of wonder
and asked the girl if I was seeing things;
and the sales girl said:
'Please sir, it’s no wonder;
that’s just mobile technology…'


3
When now I see my end
at the height of my H1N1 fever
and I tell my wife:
'Four and twenty fair virgins
all blondes
they beckon me…'

'Darling,' my wife says,
with her knuckles smack on my head:
'That’s just your imagination
in your old age and desperation…
Now, you’re really seeing things!'

look  - John and Mina are talking
in the corner in the class;
they too have their worries
even though they're just kids

"My dad works all night
at the petrol station
and in the office in the morning;
and my mom at her office in the afternoon
and she cooks and cleans
and washes all morning -
all this, as they tell me,
so I never have to worry
and I can have a good house
and food and the big car
But I still worry"

"What's there to worry?
For you, life's made easy," says the wise Mina

"Yeah," answers the worrier John -
*"but what happens if they decide to run away?"

Ah, today I was called to do
the saddest thing:
an old couple had died
in a car accident
and it was my job
as their executor
to open their separate wills
and fulfill their wishes
and the other lawyers stood around
moaning: Aren’t they the divinest couple ever?
40 years together and they died together

And I read their wills, and the Old Man's said:
This I crave be inscribed on my wife’s grave:
Cold As Ever
And in her will, the Old Woman said:
*This I crave be inscribed on my husband’s grave:
At Last, Stiff Like Never

the eTablet is not happy
across its sleek glass;
and the paper book too is not happy

the eTablet has seen it
so has the paper book
the latest tip in the Health Section
in today’s paper – online and on paper:
“To sleep easy and well,
do not use computers or eGadgets
at least an hour before bed;
read a book instead”

The eTablet is not happy
about its banishment from bed
And the paper book, always too smart
for its own good,
is not happy too:
“So what are you guys saying?
I’m so boring I put people to sleep?”

And now eTablet glows
across its sleek glass

Well, a month into the job
as local sheriff I needed an assistant
and so I advertised and got one interviewee
“What’s 1 plus 1?” I asked
“11,” came the swift reply

Well, I thought, that was creative,
and might be useful in the job
and so I said:
“What two days of the week start with T?”
“Today and Tomorrow,” was the reply

Well, maybe that’s how creative people are, I thought,
in this part of the country;
so I narrowed things to general knowledge:
“Who killed Abraham Lincoln?”

“Wow!” said the candidate, completely elated.
*“You mean I got the job
and you’re already putting me
on my first ****** case?’

why do you sing
though no one’s about?
why do you chirp
your merry songs
even on your own?

it’s in my nature,
said the sparrow,
to sing when it’s time;
I just chirp when
it’s right


why do you bloom
though there are no eyes
to behold?
why do you come to being
though there’s never
a chance of being seen?


it’s the way of life,
says the flower,
as it flows in me;
I just come to fullness
when it’s right

I think
therefore
I am single

NOTE TO POET, RAT ALUMUGUM:

Dear Sir
I saw your profile
on this site
I love your
profile
and methinks
I fall in love with you
you can send me
email
my email address is:
realhotsexbomb@badmailgirls.com
Write 2 mee
and I slew you my ****, **** pix…
and maybe we can live happily ever after




DEAR REALHOTSEXBOMB:

I want to write to you
and give you all I got
but since the last time I gave all I got
I think it was to dirtybombgirl
my wife sits beside me
at the computer
and makes me read aloud every note
and every item on the screen I see
and she forces my fingers on the keypad
and she says –
her words, not mine
and her misspelling, not mine
and her opinion of me, not mine:
"Get off my idiotic man
u beach!
Don’t you steel him
and his money;
God knows
I've waited long enough
for him to die!
Go find some other sucker;
this sucker is mine!"

1
I don’t like people
who come borrowing books
They sniff the paper and ink on my shelf
and they ask to borrow
as if they’d ever read
anything beyond junkmail
and cut-out coupons;
and as if they’d ever return my books
if I don’t bark, hound and remind them
and re-remind them…

2
There is my friend Sam
who recently took a fancy
to one of my books
on my shelf:
“Make a Billion, Loser”

“Can I borrow that?”
Sam asked
And he looked like a loser
so I said, “Yeah, you can borrow it”
And he took the book off the shelf
and he said, indignant:
“Hey! The first 100 pages are here
But pages 101 to 200 are missing!”

And I said, ******* by this imbecile:
*“Hey, the first 100 is where you read;
the second half is missing
cos that’s where
you go make your money, you loser!
Now go read the book
and then make your Billion!”

easy and smooth the day
comes and goes
like a falling leaf
or a graceful cat on the roof;
perhaps like drops of dew
drip
drip
drip
gently into the lake of time below;
dawn
morning
midday
afternoon
evening
sunset
dusk
twiligh­t
night
and I'm left in quiet
and the cat-day lies curled in my lounge

And Adam
said to God:
Daddy! Daddy!

What now?
sighed God,
quite irritated.

Daddy, daddy -
where's mummy?
asked Adam.

God thought
for a while
and He said:
O, I got rid of her.


But why, Daddy?
asked Adam


Oh, she was
too much of an inconvenience,
came the quick reply.


And as quickly
Adam said:
That mound, Daddy -
that mound
in the middle of the garden,
I've always suspected -
is that Mum, Daddy?

report this poem
it's deviant
it may teeter into f-word terrain
and it's not what one might
think a poem ought to be

malign this poem
it's mutant
it does not have form,
history or conventions
it doesn't refer to a point in the world
it's self-referential
(no comment on poverty or humanity
no evaluation of terrorism or social ills -
it's not even about love
or about the poet's first-world woes)

and so pointing back at itself
it's like ******* -
which is always a crime, always has been;
de-construct this poem
for it drifts into no meaning -
it does not help humanity transcend

useless, uninspired, with no legitimacy
it must not be -
report this poem to have it removed

I’ve been told,
I’ve been warned
even before I comprehended human language
one should revere Text and Revelation
and should prize the Holy Book
I have been told
by Priest, High Priest, Highest Priest,
and Even Higher than Highest Priest,
and all these Declared Representatives of God on Earth
and I have been told to revere the name of God
(for some reason, these Declarers say God is a He;
they’ve had a look, I am to presume)
and to prostrate myself before the Divine Leader
and I’ve been told, advised, counseled, warned
what is right, what is just
and what is good, what is allowed
all boundaries delineated
in the Book
and I’ve been told
by parent, teacher, clerics, Holy Men and Holy Women
and I have been told by Institutions, Foundations of God
operating as Family Trusts on Planet Earth
and I’ve been told, sure –
but still I put aside
I put all away
for when I look within myself
when I look in quiet
at the world and what unfolds about
all I see is the unfolding of beauty
and so it is the unfolding of beauty that one witnesses
a beauty beyond word and symbol and book
an unfolding beyond dogma and theology
and rules and conventions
and so it is the beauty I see, that I witness
and beyond that and before that
there is nothing, nothing more than that nameless beauty

eat, drink...enjoy it all...
it has been a hot day
and we have worked much
and we sang songs to see us
through the demands of it all

oh fields,
we have come to work
and to give you our time and effort;
give us your love in return
and in coming months give
us good produce and fruit

and now it is time for each one of us
all as in one family to sit in the open
and eat and drink how you like
with slurps and loud noises
and big reverberant burps;
there’s fish before you -
with your chopsticks
dig, tear and eat;
a fan for you respectable Old One
fan yourself while you eat
and the young too, let us not forget
and the baby
O let us all drink noisily if need be
eat heartily for we are the deserving
and let us not forget too the creatures
that are also part of the family

*eat and drink
slurp and gobble and belch
empty each bowl whole
dig into every bit of fish
eat and drink
for we are the deserving
after all our work

sun crazy sun
very disobedient and ill-tempered
unwilling to listen
to shine not too hot and not scorch the earth
and bad-tempered with its flares

So what city do you belong to,
to what tribe, to what ethos and religion -
to what state, Diogenes?*

I have none
and so I am free -
but if you must have a label
to understand me
you might say: cosmopolites
…but beware of labels…

(Punch comes home after work. Judy kisses him and welcomes him back home.)*

Judy:
So how was your day at work, sweetie?

Punch:
Oh that old Boss is always making life tough for me...

Judy:
Oh Punch...what happened?

Punch:
Oh Judy, I went in this morning
30 past the time I was supposed
to be in at work –
OK, I was late, but is that a big thing really? –
and anyway the Boss is at the main entrance
and he sees me come in late
and he says ever so slyly:
“Punch – do you know you are late? ”
And I says to him: “Yes, Mr Blake”
And he says to me:
“And Punch – do you know
That’s the fifth time you’ve been late to work
this week? ”
And I says to the Boss:
“Yes, Mr Blake…”
And the Boss looks at me and he says:
“Fifth time in the week, Punch…
Do you know what that means? ”
And I says:
“Fifth time in the week?
So it’s Friday, Mr Blake? ”

Judy:
Oh Punch - what a silly Boss you've got.
Why doesn't he just check
the calendar if he wants
to know the day or date?

And they asked Diogenes
how he'd like to be buried
and he said: 'Just scatter my parts
well outside the City'

'But, Diogenes,
then the wild creatures
will get to the parts -
you don't mind being eaten
up by the creatures? '

'Oh, I hadn't considered that -
just provide me with a staff then
with which I might chase away the creatures'

'Oh, but Diogenes -
how will you do that when you are dead? '

*'Oh, I hadn't considered that…
Well then, but why should I worry
what eats me after I'm dead? '

perhaps it is today
that he will return
walking up
the bend down the road

he said he’d come back
when the lights are dim
over the earth
"I’ll bring," he said,
"enough food and money
to see us through many days"

the children have waited
with silent eyes
and I tell them
each dusk:
“It is tonight
your father will return”

but I have waited
a month – two, three it seems
and the force slips in my voice
though I keep my heart and hope strong

perhaps it is today
that he will return
walking up
the bend down the road

Michael sent his uncle Old Jim to the Greenland Retirement Village on 19 January 2014. The next day, Michael visited his Uncle and also spoke with the staff. The monologues below relate events from two perspectives.*


Senior Staff :
Your Uncle seems very much at ease
in our retirement home
Many residents are nervous and uncertain
on their first days but your Uncle
seems to feel very much at home
But just one thing we observed though:
when we bring him out to rest on a chair
he leans a little to the left
and we so promptly help him sit straight;
and then he sways a little to the right
and we swiftly help him sit straight
for we don't want him to fall -
and this goes on; we’d need
to get a specialist in
to see if his spine is OK



Old Jim:
I don’t mind it here – they take good care of me
What did they tell you?
My spine? My ****!
These ******* don’t le me ****!

sometimes I wonder
if I haven't really made a blunder
Really I must have been a radiant Being
happy, easy, and just with lust to wander
and float about in space
and flit between multi-dimensions
And then I think I saw the distant fair
and lights
and rides
and a swirl of emotions and passions
and heard the pipes
and in my naivety
I must have thought:
"What's that?
I must go discover…"
And so I know next
there was an explosion
like thunder
And I went through a tunnel
And in order to see this
world-swirl
of passions and emotions
I had to fumble out of another
And then - hey!
now I know
there's not so much grandeur
as before my blunder
And those people they called my parents
they've been quite clever
they've found a way out
and they've crawled out:
they've stolen the thunder;
and leaving me to work out
how to pull things asunder:
" goodbye son;
turn off the lights
on your way out"
And where am I going to find another explosion
and another tunnel
to get me out of this sandy hovel?
Another mother, another father? -
for all things in reverse
Maybe that's what they call
Time and Death
to get me back
away from my earthy warren
And back to my natural state
as a radiant Being
light and easy, happy to wander
and float about in space
and flit between multi-dimensions
And this time
no matter how much I wander
I hope not to gape in wonder
at the lights and swirls
that I might see yonder

Mapel retired, and felt old
within a week;
and so she went for a walk
and in the neighbourhood
she saw an old man on his rocking chair
at his porch
yet  seeming young

And so Mapel asked:
"What's your secret
that you look so young
and sprightly? "

And the old man replied:
"My secret? I smoke daily
and drink countless glasses
I eat no vegetables
and meat is all I put in
Exercise is unnecessary
and watching TV is better than sleep"

"How old are you?"asked Mapel
amazed...

*"Oh, I'm twenty-five"

a little more haste, neighbor,
as we pick edible plants
on these slopes of the mountains;
the air is fresh and the delicate plants
abundant enough
though one has to humble oneself
by leaning down to these rare ones;
we will bring them home
and some we can eat fresh and raw
and most we can stir in our pots
and serve it as a treat with rice and garlic -
but my dearest friend,
what are you doing?
You are looking up at the sky
instead of keeping your eyes
down to the ground….


Ah, I just happened to look up
and I saw the bird fly;
I wondered what freedom that bird has in the air
unlike us who have to keep our heads down
and the strain pulls and tortures the back


Ah, ha…dear friend, you’ve
always been the dreamer;
keep your eyes on the ground
and get what you can
before sunset
for we must hurry;
as you know
bodies must eat;
and you still have to reach
out and bend your back,
I’m afraid;
for the plants that nurture blood, bones and muscle
they take us from one day to the next

The visitors are come to the Temple Gardens in Nippori; two visitors talk to each other:



1
Ah, look at these gardens
the temple gardens in Nippori,
sacred and pure;
see how the trees and flowers bloom
and the very grounds are fresh and radiant…
Let us walk here
mindful of the beauty of the grounds
and the trees and the flowers;
let us contemplate the purity of the air;
let us walk, careful – even as we take
each step on these rich grounds
blessed by holy presence;
let us revere these grounds, their beauty and energy



2
I heard a song
in my village
that an old woman sang:

*There is no ground
that is more sacred than another;
there is no place
that is more worthy than another;
walk - O beings of the earth,
with respect in each measure;
live with reverence
for the very air you breathe;
live in each place
as there is none more than another

I'm content in this life
and with no desire
for loyalty rewards after


and penalties, if so,
I leave to Any
who might honestly think
it right to judge

O setting Sun
do not drag my
heart down with you;
for it’s known in nations
where you do not shine as often
you bring cheer and smiles away
till you come again;
do not let then
my heart
dear Sun
sink with you

'Say Diogenes,
how is a Wise One
to be known?
Can you tell me
how a Wise One
might look like?'*

Diogenes looks skyward,
strikes a pose
and strokes his beard

these lines
acting as a poem

somewhat of a method actor
born of parents in the theater
thrown out into the gutter

maybe will grow up
and crawl back into the theater
to specialise in Shakespearean roles
a little of Chekov, some of Eugene O'Neill

I visited your page
to read your poems
(I thought you'd like to know)
but they were so lost
in a very long list of poems
by so many other poets
and so down and down I went
digging and digging
to find you
in your page
but hey, it was too much bother
(yes, you can take me to task for it)
diving so deep to find you
so I just aborted and clicked away

Don't blame me -  I can only hold my breath
for so long when I go free-diving;
and if I dig too long, I get a bad back

said one cat to the other:
*“One of these days I’m going
to the Flea Circus
and then I’ll be real famous
cos I’ll steal the whole show!”

A man comes
from the next city
seeking Diogenes
'O Diogenes,
I have come in search
Of wisdom…
Can you write me a Book
and give that to me
so that I can cherish wisdom
all my life?'

'You fool!' says Diogenes
*'If you were hungry
you would not eat the painting
of a meal but the food itself -
and yet you seek the Book
but not the wisdom…
Discard the Book;
see the truth!'

the woman came in
to our office
and my deputy took her statement

her husband had been missing
over three days;
and she handed in a photo
for identification

and she had a message
for her husband, faithfully recorded
by my deputy:
*"Come home, darling-
mother didn't come to visit after all"

I was at the interview
and it was the final moments,
I knew

and the Owner Manager
sat back in his seat
and he thought awhile and deep
and he looked me straight in the eye
and he said: "We need someone responsible.
Do you think you are that person?"

"Sure," I replied with confidence
*"In all the previous places where I worked
whenever something went wrong
people always pointed to me
as being the one responsible"

sometimes I wish
dear moon
sometimes I wish
the earth had five moons
and all so positioned
we can see
one every night and then in twos and in threes
never four (just so for mystery’s sake)
and then all five
all in perfect alignment once a year
just three nights so
and then we’ll all here on earth
go ga ga ga
or moo moo moo looooney
those nights and go crazy
and climb up trees and enact our ape ancestry …

and don’t you be jealous
I asked for four others;
I just want more of you –
just never seem to get enough of you

1
Tom sits alone in the bar
staring at
his drink before him
The burly stranger comes in
stares at Tom and seizes Tom's glass
and finishes the drink in one gulp
Tom cries
and the stranger says:
'****! Don't cry!
I was joking
I hate to see a man cry
Wipe your tears off
and I'll buy you many drinks'


2
'No, it's not that, stranger, '
says Tim, still crying
*'I've had a ****** bad day
since the start
I went to work
and my boss fired me
And I went home
and my wife was with another man
I went to the park
and I got bitten by a stray dog
I went back to the car park
and just then somebody drove off with my car
And I came here and
at the exact moment I was going to have the drink
in one gulp
and put an end to my life -
you came in and finished my drink,
every drop of the poison
I had emptied into it'

Hey dad, you got to admit
life's tougher on kids nowadays
and you and mom had it easier
in your time as children

How's that,  son?

Well life makes more demands on today's kids -
you didn't have social media and twitter
and Likes and the need to do one better
and all these demands on time like indie videos
Sure, they might sound trivial -
but hey, surely your parents pooh-poohed
trends in your time

the student
walks over the hills
and through woods
into secluded groves
and finally in the forests
he finds the Master

The Master has no books; he carries no signs or paraphernalia of an organization or structure on him. The Master moves lightly; he is dressed in dull clothes and he carries nothing. The Master seems to have no followers; no one to attend to him or to announce him.

the student pursues the Master
and the Master walks before;
and no matter how fast
the student walks or runs
the Old Master seems always ahead

they come to a surging river
and the Master walks across
and the student follows
and at last the currents seem
to slow the Old Master
and the student catches up
and standing in the water
he shouts:
“I am here, Master!
I have come over
hills and mountains
and I have crossed forests
and wastelands
seeking you, Master.
Please teach me.”

And the Master turns around in the surging river, steady and strong. The student looks at the Master’s face; this is a plain man. He does not look like a Master; he has no look of a prophet or one who could save another. There are no signs of revelation in his manner. There is no special-ness in his visage or in his eyes. He could be the butcher at the local market. And the Master seizes the student by the head and pushes him into the water.



the student struggles;
the student's arms are above the water
and the arms are like wings of struggling birds
and the Master pulls the student out of the water
and the Old Master says:
“What did you feel as
you struggled in the water?”

“I felt,” gasps the student,
“I felt desperate for air
for I knew everything depended on it.”

“Ah,” says the Master,
“when you feel likewise
about truth
that this is the only thing that matters -
then you may come back.
Until then, don't waste my time -
now, go!”

I don’t love to cry
(do you?)
but when I laugh
it seems I laugh to cry
because I laugh so much
and so long
so unrestrained
my laugh takes me to cry;
so though I don’t love to cry
I just laugh that leads to cry
but it is happy cry, ha-ha cry

again and again we copy and imitate
and crave to be shaped
or we create ideas and cherished notions
and we cling to traditions and hopes and inspirations;
and we run to this and then to that
and we say this is revelation, this is the Divine
and this is the path
and we have solutions and formulas
and plans and consolations
and we say this is the truth and that is the truth
and this is the leader
and we crave for stimulants
we eat cliches
we bow to consuming and demanding Revelations
that eat minds;
and we crave for things that offer solutions
that offer certainty
and so we believe, we rather believe
and this the Blessed
and that one the Chosen
and this the Ultimate True Guide:
always chasing, always wanting to be led
always wanting to be burdened
like trained donkeys, with heavy loads;
always wanting Super Powers, Omnipotence
always the leverage of a Supreme Being
always division: the All Powerful and the Weakling;
always believing, always believing
in such complexities, such mysteries
but it is simple;
drop everything
and see what is left...
but one will not do it
for one would rather cling to something and notions
and authority
and wait for someone else to describe it
rather than seeing it oneself;
one would rather revere

I just love you
sweet woman
I saw you and I love you
I’m not a poet
or a singer
nor gifted with
skillful brushes
to convey
this feeling in my
heart and mind
I don’t even know
if the words I choose are right
or inapt
I just know
sweet angel of my heart
I just know and that’s all I want to say:
I love you; I do

never teach English -
you’ll always end up gibberish*

1
the student wrote:
“Its find to one two tock to strainers
four eat wheel improof you’re languish”
but the teacher of English
patiently attempted to teach
the proper way it is written:
“It’s fine to want to talk to strangers
for it will improve your language”

but the student insisted:
“Its find to one two tock to strainers
four eat wheel improof you’re languish”
and the teacher persisted:
“It's fine to want to talk to strangers
for it will improve your language”


2
for months the teacher persisted
in spite of her trauma
(maybe it was her karma) -
and at last after six months
the student learned to write:
“It’s fine to want to talk to strangers
for it will improve your language”

So the teacher of English *succeeded

but now for years it is the teacher who writes:
*“Its find to one two tock to strainers
four eat wheel improof you’re languish”

lovers of words
we build dungeons;
lovers of words
we forge our own chains;
lovers of ideas
we inhale illusions:
the mind confronts the world
(rarely does it meet the world)
and the mind confronts the world
like a careless driver who hits a tree
and then considers what is to be done;
like how a group might attempt to control
a river that runs through the village;
and the mind creates ideas
to overcome, to control, to transcend
and the mind is
trapped in words
(loves words for its gentle touch)
and so it builds wordy cages
builds for itself escapes
builds for itself diversions
and is manacled by words it plucks out of thin air
and that it develops into theories and ideas and revelation
(loves these for the relief)
and that become truth and immutable by time and repetition
and so the mind lies chained in it own prisons:
lovers of words
we build dungeons;
lovers of words
we forge our own chains;
lovers of ideas
we inhale illusions