I
rainy season
sheets of water
freely traveling
illusion of you are going anywhere
accompanying you wherever you go
adds embellishment to the picture
to the sea
a little blue returns
a little white
egret white
to the sand
starts again
your journey
to anywhere
vastness
wherever you go
II
mekong
sun setting on mother river
your boat
whether it's moving upstream
downstream
whatever you may think of your boat
of your journey of here and there
where
if anywhere
is it going
is all left to the flow
III
what can we know and
what is it we can't
do we know
in the in-between
there
we are held by a lightness
the moment
eternal blue
where mornings
let go of their shimmer
journies
of their traveler
IV
because disease is unreal
theres's only unreal medicine to cure it
( pai-chang)
cloudy morning in han noi
lost in the maze of city noise
a lone rooster calls
barely audible
sound of flute playing
a block or two away
in the penumbra of this hotel room
beauty and vanity of all your travels
in one breath
embraced
teach us to care and not to care
teach us to sit still
(t.s.eliot)
you are forgiven for failing to learn
right here
you are closest to nowhere
than you will ever be
that sumptuous palace
home greeting you
wherever you go
raised on the dust of roads
marinated in silence
words that cure
V
denn bleiben ist nirgends
rilke's verse surges as you
pack you bag to leave han noi
for staying is nowhere
echoes of tachouang-tzi
the one who comes from nowhere
finds dwelling wherever they go
then basho's everyday is a journey
and the journey is home
signposts for pathless travelers
lest they get lost on the way
how could we get lost
if we have no path
said ikkyu
never-ending journey
emptiness
dreams of coming and going
rise and fall here
rainfall in abundance
traceless
their blessings
your innermost self
VI
hua lou
ancient capital
outside the shrine
incense burning
millenia
from a wisp of smoke
our leap
into the unknown
VII
die rose ist ohne warum
sie blühet weil sie blühet
the rose is without why
it blooms because it blooms
(angelus silesius)
a graveyard in an
out of the way place
blooming among headstones
lotuses
not for the living
for the dead not
no one's flowers
out of no why they bloom
lotus
your flame
radiance of what just is
shows itself
silently
