master tokuda

how far with learning
before knowing emerges
into knowing
before unknowing is revealed

how long in voiceless dark

before the unspeakable
murmurs the opening syllable
and the man of such
turns his face
begins to utter
words of water
streaming over
words of stone

your disciple

tetsu-un

ei tai-ji

september sesshin

2004

prayer

perfectly still
perfectly cold
mind-cold

light goes out

from the hidden shed
deep in the valley

mind-cold

sphere-cold
that lofty music
finally stilled

closer than before

voice itself is the stranger
it speaks to you in words
you cannot understand
speaks as you stand in the herb
speaks with the tall herb too
with wandering pollens
this year’s
that year's
unbesought
unbeseeched

thinking of walter

walking through wild grass
not easy to tell 
pre-dawn dew
from late morning rain
on bending grass

must be the same circle

where mirrors merge
wherein the hazel tree
forsakes cascade of gold
to draughts of november
whisperings

le rocher de la baume, 2005