Skinned

My skin is not what
separates me from
the rest of the earth.

It's my awareness
of my skin that cuts me
loose.

Light Power

Sunlight powers growth.
Shadow coaxes reflection.

Growth demands change.
Reflection discovers wisdom.

Change creates motion.
Wisdom empties into stillness.

Motion powers time.
Stillness coaxes light.

Hard Winter

Winds strip the leaves.
Ice prunes the branches.
Winter thins the trees.
Spring replants the forest.

Above or Below

Change comes either
from above the surface
or from below the surface.

The surface itself
merely reflects the change.

Simple Life

A simple life is attractive,
but how to maintain it?
So many distractions among
the ten thousand things.

When I learn to live simply
even among distractions,
the distractions themselves
become as ordinary as grass.

Six Reflections

Trees on water.
My face in a mirror.

A night sky in the mind.
Grain in a farmer's hand.

A baby just come into the world.
The empty chair at dinner.

What Does It Mean?

We overlay meaning
on everything we encounter.
This is how we make sense
of our universe.

Making sense means
learning what to expect.

When we live
outside of expectations,
our need for meaning fades.

What We Care About

We want to protect
what we care about.

The more we care,
the more set we become.

The more set we become,
the more willing we are
to give our life for it.

Or to take someone else's.

Some things are worth a life.
Most things aren't.

Nothing of Itself

A river gives up
nothing of itself
to reflect the sky.

The sky gives up
nothing of itself
to reflect on the river.

The river is still a river.
The sky is still a sky.

Both unchanged.
Both always changing.

Rhythm Method

Breath.
Heartbeat.
Footstep.

Our bodies are
syncopated
machines.

If they can work
in rhythm
within themselves,

they can work
in rhythm
with each other.

Downpour

The sky wrings itself
out like a rag.

Towns flood downstream.

Tao wrings itself
out like a sponge.

The ten thousand things are born.

Blink

Night after night,
the moon goes
through its phases.

Mountains come
and go under its light.
Rivers surge and dwindle
below its changing face.

The moon blinks,
and we've already
come and gone.

The sun blinks,
and the moon is
just a flash in the pan.

The universe blinks,
and our sun never existed
at all.

Root Pain

When a hurt
has roots
that run
all the way
to the bone,
was it planted
by a long blade,
or did it grow
like a weed
from within?

One is cured
by forgiveness.

The other
needs wisdom.

Four Nothings

Say nothing,
and you become invisible.

Do nothing,
and you become expendable.

Think nothing,
and you become gullible.

Believe nothing,
and you become dangerous.

Irony

Wealth needs security.
Freedom favors poverty.

World Line

Humanity
has its own
world line.

The universe
has one, too.

The ten thousand things
arise and return.

Tao alone is free
of time.

Up

Look up once in awhile.

The trees are trying
to get your attention.

Not Allowed to Choose

Born in a mansion.
Born in a manger.

Grow up in a house.
Grow up in a hovel.

Live a short life.
Live a long life.

Die in a bed.
Die in a battle.

There are many things
we are not allowed to choose.

Promotion

I am nine.
I am in the third grade.

I am nineteen.
I am in the third grade. 

I am twenty-nine.
I am in the third grade.

I am thirty-nine.
I am in the third grade.

I am forty-nine.
I am in the third grade.

I am fifty-nine.
I am in the fourth grade.

Five Gifts

First is the gift of sight.
It cures spiritual blindness.

Second is the gift of heart.
It cures spiritual coldness.

Third is the gift of pain.
It cures spiritual apathy.

Fourth is the gift of noise.
It cures spiritual aloofness.

Fifth is the gift of wisdom.
It cures spiritual pride.

Inexhaustible

Tao is inexhaustible.
Nothing can be added.
Nothing can be taken away.

We, too, are Tao.
Nothing can be added.
Nothing can be taken away.

Lawmakers

When money makes the laws,
weapons proliferate.

When age makes the laws,
change becomes a challenge.

When power makes the laws,
the disenfranchised become dangerous.

When wisdom makes the laws,
compassion and justice expand.

Lost Along the Way

Lost travelers are
more willing to accept
bad accommodations.

This is especially true
along the spiritual road.

Lost Within

One day, we may discover
electrons have moons of their own.

And fruit trees and orchards.
Continents of indigenous people.

Oceans and tides and coral beds.
Storms raging across tiny lands.

More worlds lost within themselves.

Ideals

We build temples of power
as large as our best ideals
and wring our hands when
we can't live up to them.

An Enemy's Oldest Pain

What advantage is it
to have an enemy?
No one is a clear stream.
Everyone is polluted somehow.

When you know the source
of an enemy's oldest pain,
you possess the power
to forgive.

Elders

Age spots, white hair.
Paper skin, deafness.

What fragile vessels
for such accrued wisdom.

Clarity

Clear sight is a blessing.
Clear thought is a curse.

One shows the road to follow.
The other keeps us still.

The Journey of Cities

Cities begin as towns.
Towns begin as settlements.
Settlements begin as crossroads.
Crossroads begin as paths.
Each path begins as a single journey.

No telling what might happen
when we step beyond our door.

Seasoned Listening

Listening to winter
is not the same as
listening to summer.

One offers the silence
of bare trees.
The other offers
the nervous singing of birds.

Every season speaks
a different language.
Listening carefully
is how we discover this.

Mirror Views

Everything I think is true
has an opposing mirror view.

The reflection of trees on water
reminds me of this.

Every point of view
is like this reflection.

An ever-changing illusion.