Recalling the Old Days at Mianchi
To what can we liken human life?
Perhaps to a wild swan's footprints in mud or snow;
by chance its claws imprint the mud
before it flies off at random, east or west.
The old monk is dead and a new pagoda built;
the old wall has crumbled, the poem we wrote on it gone.
Do you still remember this rugged mountain path,
the long way, our exhaustion and how the lame
donkey brayed?
Su Dongpo
Zen Poems
 |
| bear prints in the mountain mud |
An extraordinary three weeks. After a year long drought we had three weeks of rain that filled the river beds, the ditches, flooded roads, brought our Bosque back from the brink and stirred up mushroom spores have been dormant in the soil for decades.
These two fine specimens are growing in my yard!
 |
| Suede bolete is an edible but not very good mushroom unlike its delicious cousin the Boletus edulis. |
 |
| I'm fairly certain this is a variety of White Amanita, an extremely poisonous mushroom. |
The Words In Their Sleep
Have you slept the whole summer away here
with the dogs
do you believe in waking,
do you dream that you are somewhere else
do you remember what you meant to say
do you remember the sounds of the voices
you once heard
do you know who you are
do you still speak the old language
are you older than you can say
you who never told the whole story
only what came to mind
W.S. Merwin
from
Garden Time
 |
| pomegranates |
 |
| Collards, broccoli and marigolds |
 |
| tomatoes gone crazy |
 |
| NM Red Delicious apples |
In the Moutain
Yellow chrysanthemums and green bamboo,
they don't belong to others.
Bright moon and clear breeze
are not for the sphere of the senses.
They're all treasures
of my house -
Fetch them home freely
use them, get to know them!
Paegun
from
Zen Poems
This morning's mountain walk. Setting full harvest moon.
