(730–799)
Inscribed on the Wall of the Hut by the Lake
IF you want to be a mountain-dweller . . .
no need to trek to India to find one.
I have a thousand peaks
to pick from right here on the lake.
Fragrant grasses and white clouds
hold me here.
What holds you there,
world-dweller?
[J.P.S.]
To Be Shown to Monks at a Certain Temple
NOT yet to the shore of non-doing,
it’s silly to be sad you’re not moored yet.
East Mountain’s white clouds say
keep on moving, even
if it’s evening,
even if it’s fall.
[J.P.S.]
The Creek Out Front
SPRING’S songs already quieting,
the ancient source still bubbles forth.
It’s a mistake, my modern friends,
to wound the heart to try
to cross that stream.
[J.P.S.]
Written at Flower of the Law Temple about a Monk I Saw Sitting Zazen by the River
THE road runs into pine sighs—from far off, it’s even stranger.
Mountain light and colors in the water, tufted, raggedy.
On the crag in the middle, in zazen, all alone, one monk
sits facing the cassia bough: already old, long ago.
[J.P.S.]