CIRCUS PIPES©

SKIPPING STONES

GOODBYE MEDIA

rest in peace

CBS, NBC, et cetera

Random House, you were aptly named

Facebook, I face the other way

here in the bower of nowhere

universal operations are in motion

flowers boom along with weeds

rain brings leaves to block the drainage grate

an unseasonable sky is cheerful

shapers of minds

you are shapeless here

who do you answer to?

surely not to me

nor I to you

on a bicycle without pedals

a hand that claps by itself

has announced

an indigenous ruler

here passing through

where there is not so much as a yarrow stalk's difference

in the synchronicity of educated minds

a dried rattle of clicking reeds

carefully sorted by this

clap of thunder

screen door shuttered in a sudden gust of wind

a bagatelle

dust devils of the mind

far beyond footnotes and tomato sauce

shrimps curled in pink delicious death

cannot speak

of presidents whose portraits do not include

the evening meal

Twentieth Century Fox?

the Lion's roar?

goodbye . . .

Tabitha sleeps

I purr

oh, we are just getting started

liberation of minds

as near

as this page

rulers of our history

as the global tide rises inexorably

and ice caps melt

crowns and traditions fall into the sea

a disaster of unmitigated proportions

a Hot Age brings light in abundance

for all the enslaved to see

North Korea set free

life, liberty, et cetera, an unimaginable dream

burnt

I sing the light fantastic

illuminated meditation halls

private morning sittings

history of our planet forgotten

yet not repeated

out of hand, isn't it?

but of course

that's where we began

and if I may be so bold:

yee ha!

goodbye media

ALL THE WORLD

are shoppers on El Camino motivated by bargains

 or by good quality stuff

Olsen's Cherry Stand might satisfy everyone

now and then Taiko drummers are an attraction

you can get a bicycle part or a Honda

isn't it fascinating

in Menlo Park books on meditation are sold

incense

for those who parry the daily grind

suffering will end

someday

there is a better place (right here)

but let's be clear

clarity is not for everyone

some are committed to suffering

for some the light shines brightly

and there are manifold hues

each with devoted students

venerable ancestors

born, nurtured and transmitted from times quite unlike

now

with shining glories variously promoted

fail our present situation:

disaster!

forget apocalyptic prophecies

earthquakes, asteroids, volcanoes

not to mention the nuclear variety

look out your window!

walk your neighborhood

talk to neighbors

everyone has noticed

the sky, the sea, melting ice caps, ecological destruction

the biggest story on planet earth

and it fails to make the evening news!

some who promise, and with good reason, an end to suffering

focus on the promulgation of their practice:

salvation

either in one stroke here and now

or in an afterlife

the world and its sufferings are

in the end

vehicles for the light

of whatever color

while the world continues its practice:

greed is good!

truly, the only home of our aspiration was never threatened

before

but now even my neighbors are talking

such a beautiful day

in February

oh, the east coast . . .

one of my customers asked

what can we do?

I didn't know

but isn't it time for a changing of the guard

to skirt the mausoleum of TV  "news" . . .

now or later

if there is a later

our aspiration will bring enlightenment

one never knows how or when things will end

or if they ever do

these words for instance

or where they begin

here is just in the middle

or at just what point in the process it will change

Susan arrives back from Respite

a program for disabled children at the Los Gatos Baptist Church

Tabitha comes in to sit next to me

tomorrow Susan celebrates the New Year at Sunnyvale's Zen Center

to be followed by an opera, with her friend Mark

and she has bought some Jack Daniels (for her cold)

brings me a shot with a cube of ice

Tabitha eyes me as I sip

then comes to purr on me

carefully leaving just enough room for these scratchings

and what has all of this to do with

the disaster?

well, it's still here, isn't it?

together with an end to suffering for some

perhaps you

get enlightened, you can do it

and along with that, in this time

you might go talk with neighbors

maybe later is too late

but to begin with there was no guarantee

please don't be depressed

you'll get over it

in the meantime

since you are the universe

celebrate

do zazen

eliminate the cause of self inflicted wounds