A few that were written for my Buddhist philosophy final
Flowing
Face the sands of the slipping glass
Each grain unique which will pass
Falling into this extending well
Lost but never gone
A moment captured held within
A token pressed, polished, thin
We find our words, our passing signs,
Separated from us in these symbols of time.
~
Reference
Blades of grass torn
Softly in twain
The slow plodding foot
Of a strolling crane
Yet as I watch this
Pleasant scene
I still sit and think
Of it without me
But to another
Sitting further back
What they might see
And surely think that
I’m involved in
This fleeting moment
While they sit and watch
Walls of distinction rise up
But how can we both
Take this frame
Yet simply not be
Included with the crane
We came to find
Eventually that these
Bounds that were drawn
Do not exist
And extend beyond all
~
Summer Breeze
Ashes scatter as the winds blow by
Flowing between both living and dying
Falling down and breaking with
The waves of now that ring through all.
Tears shed for the dead by dying
Misunderstood as life is lifing
Taking place, always defying
A will forced against the grain
Fighting against suffering in vain.
How beautiful the sands of time
Built on bones of previous lives
That passing breeze each time we feel
Frees us from the separation of the real.
~
Pushing
Knuckles white with spite
Fright driving through the night
The solid grip held on the wheel
Yet open not to the dharma to feel.
Resistance is the law that’s held
Trying to drive the wheel to hell
Created by us for ourselves
A place we never knew we’d dwell.
So hard we push and fight so long
To get away from what we think is wrong
Tearing us away from our own self
And where our solution is held.
~
Complex?
So simple the view we take
The sense our equations make
Laid before us in neat rows
We understand them without woe
But the wild things we look upon
Mistrustful of how strong
They act on us and yet we still
Cannot know or see as real.
These foreign things that we see
Things our science cannot meet
Divorced from us in ignorance
Yet bliss we should find that they exist.
~
Falling Water
Waters falling from the heights
Of granite towering tall with might
Stone cut smooth by the wind
Timeless to our temporary whims
Flowing down from the sky
Eternal in its constant cycle
Life played out before its travel
Mountains carved into gravel
Then dust and dirt lining the floor
Washing up an ocean shore
These times that pass we cannot grasp
Yet still we stand and marvel at
The mountains tall and waters strong
Singing out their endless song.
~
Passing
So long ago and so far away
We often times view our lives to be
From each moment that went by.
The timelines we believe are true
Created by us to fit our rules
Hardly fit, but delusions made true.
We fight the current, search for shore
Haven’t found any more than flowing water
Rippling tides, pushing us further, expanding wide.
Scream and fret, as we might
If we could realize our plight and cast the rod
Drop the anchor, walk the water and flow with the tide.
~
Lies
The end of life, that dying day
Always we put ourselves so far away.
But look in the mirror sometimes seen
That ending that we all will glean.
Knowledge that we cannot find
Often deals we make to buy us time.
Running still and always further
We yearn to feel a lying nurture.
Run to whatever it is that can promise
Eternal life without bound.
But some days we can’t help but wonder
If its something that can muster
Hope or fear but still feel
As grass waiting to be reaped.
Out of reach we should accept
This day to be, and let it rest.
Simple Guides
Endless words of the dead
On pages that I have often read
So many months have passed by
Studies seeming endless, tired
Over complicated, the message
Lost, obscured, jaded
Rarely have so few been able
To say so much in so few syllables
Yet simple instructions
Too easy to pass off and ignore
For those harder texts but we come to find
Even a cook’s job to be
Quite sublime
