2 views from the UK

2 views
from the UK
!!!
wow
Just think about it
Great Grandfather
wrote in the giant, old
     family bible
"Leaving Liverpool today"

-mother's side,
     very English

and then, of course,
there's Dr. Who

talk about
full circle
(circles being - very zen)
now
that the internet
is here
for us to
play with
and-
I can watch
the BBC news . . .

Grandfather had an Orange Grove
in Orange County, California
-if you can believe-
I remember visiting
wondering why my mother
kept saying
look at the orange trees
look at the orange trees
as we drove through
     miles and miles of them
One day
     there will be no more
     orange trees here
She would say

I could not believe
that anyone
would cut down
so many trees
ever-
anywhere-

Trees were good for climbing on
and good for shade
and orange trees had
     oranges on them
and -- grew like weeds

why would they ever be
     replaced-
with ----city!!

WHAT
were they thinking?

i still
don't
know

home again

back home
from the long
trip
giving thanks
there were no
-major problems-

greeted by the furry cat
-his winter coat is coming in-
he naps beside me
-but always wants out
     at night-
(the bells I hung
on the door
for him to ring --
may not have been
the absolute
Best Idea...)

the fish are fine
they circle around
-probably glad that
whoever drops the food in-
is doing so again
-vacation food block
doesn't look maybe
so appetizing
or is it me
who thinks
that they
can differentiate me
from a raccoon

the Bills are there
arraigned like a trap
upon the floor
They will jump up
and attack
     my bank account
-as so many things also
are wont to do

I try to preserve
the silence
of the retreat
     Not calling
     you
     The one
     who never has anything
     nice
     to say
Maybe you
will
go
away

I ran outta here
crazy to escape
from problems
and from mind
which I did
with great
expertise
so
tonight
there is
a
"woman's meeting"
(at church)
after a week
of near-silence
will I
crack
and
break
????

oh flagman, flagman

oh flagman,
     flagman
don't flag me

let me go upon
     my journey

But while I sit and wait
I see by the roadside
The green tumbleweed
The golden grass-like stuff
and sage-y green

Which-
without you,
noble flagman,
This I-
never would
have seen

Now we get to go
and crawl along
Led by the lead car
     with the flashing light

today the flagman
     is a flagwoman!

See how far
     we've come
From "Virginia Slims"
to this

and I can watch
the hills roll by
at 15 miles per hour

all the way up
this long hill

What is up
with you people-
repairing
a place
That looked
perfectly good
to me
-last time through
(six days ago)
maybe there was
nothing
better to do

so now
we move

-passing the other side
waiting
-it must be a mile
of cars and big-big trucks
up hill
down hill
and all
around hill

good to be
back home
after a drive
like that !

-and greeted by
the fuzzy cat

ego-maniac

there in the stillness
of the forest and the trees
and the meditation
shrine...

I fall down between
my thoughts and dreams
I get to a place where
I want to be
forever

no mind
no problem

the zen friends
say

why it takes so much doing
to un-do

is a mystery...

The mind needs an
     off switch
-and a manual

-the emotions too-

They drive me
crazy
-on any usual day

maybe now they will
     fall in line
maybe now
     learn quietness
maybe now
     learn to stay
     in the now

they laugh...
they let me be
for a little while

with a tantalizing
taste
of freedom
of space

beatific  
buddha's face

retreating

here I am
retreating from my life
(being very spiritual)
and remembering all the things
I forgot
to bring.

this truth
becomes
"self-evident"
when I go to brush my teeth
and there is
     -no brush
I go to charge my phone
     -and there is no chord

there is one last
-last minute package
sitting at home
put right in the place
-where I won't forget  it

I wish there were
someone
to blame
someone else
who forgot it
maybe "the cat"
made away with it

but
I must
admit
as I sit
cross legged
in the wilderness
That
I
have done it again

and no one else
can be blamed
for it

karma
meets
all timers 
 

one world

all over the world
we are all people
we all deserve
to be free
to "have fun
to go home
when we're done"

we don't deserve
hunger
and strife
we all want
a nice life

big governments
and corporations
are only us
after all

how revolutionary
to just
chill
just begin
to be nice
to each other
and
to ourselves

why add more trouble
more anger
more angst
to the whole pie

I am ego
after all
the ego is three years
old
she likes cookies and
cartoons

but the greater good
is served
by seeing
that
ego
is
only one small part
of this picture

Jesus, "felt the joy
of the Holy Spirit"
I need to feel that

better than
cookies
and
not so fattening

dukha

signing up for another

retreat
preparing to leave
the world

getting too old
for the long drive
but love the
     walking around
and the food

the credit card
still has remnants
of the last visit there

came back
all mellowed out
and the plumbing went-

life
has a way
of intruding
upon our contemplation

hopefully now
things
will
mellow out

I don't know why
they should
except that
I want them to

I suppose it's only me
that can
mellow be

twisting things around
to make them rhyme

not good,
need
to let
them
be

that may be
my main problem here
need to learn to let
the powers that be
have their way
with me

but I only want
the good
stuff

that's normal,
natural,
but
not very zen

Buddha said-
desire and aversion
are the great
bug-a-boos
of life
causing all our
strife

I'm desiring breakfast
and if I don't get it
there will be
suffering...

desire
for pancakes,
too fattening-
desire
for oatmeal
-not nearly as
     keen

dear Lord
let me desire
the good stuff
only what is truly
good for
me

wheat-grass-juice,
not - hot pancakes
with butter and
maple syrup
-dripping-

it's dukha-
it strikes again
in the form
of pancakes
this time

we must be
     watchful
for it is
ever at our heels
nipping
hungrily...

( i'd better go eat )