Run, my dear, from anything that may not
strengthen your precious budding wings.
Hāfez
It was one of the giant sequoia trees like you see in a movie. There were openings in it, some were as large as a room. The tree was as big around as a house at the base. In one of the smaller openings sat a man and a woman. "Do you want to make love to me?" He was surprised that she asked him that, but quickly said yes. They took off their hiking boots and clothes and spread a sleeping bag out on the ground. "Touch my face with one hand, and touch the tree with the other," she told him. Had she done this before? Here? He didn't know, but obeyed. Her face was soft, she was a lovely woman, and the tree, well, it felt like a tree. They were still for a moment and the man felt his consciousness fading away. He felt at one with the earth, like he had roots. And that was the last thought he had. He was gone, there was only the woman and the sequoia, which was just a little larger than before.
jobe
Greed is not kind to others. Greed
is not even kind to the greedy.
-B. D. Schiers
The sun spends the whole day hard at work
only at night does she rest
in that secret place we cannot see
some say it is other side of the world
but I say it is the other side of all life
jobe
Let a joy keep you. Reach out your
hands and take it when it runs by.
Carl Sandburg
Satori haiku
Satori — what's that?
every moment is satori -
how lovely, the dawn
jobe
This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness
Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!
Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.
Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.
Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.
Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.
The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.
These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:
Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.
Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī) 1207 — 1273 CE
Moonlight in the west
a south wind tonight
where are you son
is the bardo as empty as earth
death has called us in the wrong order
one cannot make assumptions in life
my son my son
I am counting the nights until I join you
moonlight in the west
a south wind tonight
can you hear it blow
jobe
Love never made a fool of me. I always was one.
Greg Brown
Bicycle Haiku
Late summer bike ride,
grasshopper lands on my neck --
where to, little friend?
jobe
Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who
are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Good manners are everything
be polite at your booking
say thank you when you empty your pockets
when you are fingerprinted and photographed
is there a line-up for a witness identification
smile and nod at the window that looks like a mirror
imagine that you are in a talent show
try to make a good impression
introduce yourself and offer a handshake
Tell them you are happy to be there
actually be happy to be there
jobe
You were wild once. Don't let them tame you.
Isadora Duncan
Crazy man
I was jailed into myself
into my own head
I thought I was 'deep in thought'
the sentence was given to me by myself
life-as-jobe… with no parole
oh hell
but don't worry
I busted out of my cell
one night when the guard was sleeping
foolish guard — that was me too
jobe
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