below high cliffs - ten poems

1

Below high cliffs

I slash and I burn

there's vegetables and grain

to boil and steam

to satisfy the present

to brighten old age

looking at a tree in the yard

I count its falls and springs

2

Below high cliffs 

my companions are the ancients

having reached the source

here I rest

others of more mystic persuasion 

study koans to death

wait beside stumps for rabbits

notch boats to find lost swords

3

Below high cliffs

all day I see plants

no sign of people

yellow leaves in the wind

birds call at dusk from the valley

the mountain moon rises at night

a crane takes flight from a pine

and showers my robe with dew

4

Below high cliffs

tigers and snakes are my neighbors

once I forgot my mind

their natures suddenly became tame

people born in this world

all have something divine

mouths of teeth heads of hair

why can't they be kind

5

Below high cliffs

unaware of the source

wherever you turn is karma

chaos and confusion

in order to see the truth

look beyond your senses

it's always been this way

the spring flows all around you

6

Below high cliffs

serene in solitude

not visited by time

the mind creates the world

the window holds a setting moon

the stove contains a dying fire

pity the sleeping man

startled from his butterfly dream

7

Below high cliffs

a white-haired old man

his robe with no hem 

his pants with no lets

practicing zazen at night

working his fields by day

herein lies the Path

where else could it be

8

Below high cliffs

I face a thousand mountains

one sense finds the source

all six relax

white clouds drift

green water ripples

beyond movement and stillness

there's another world

9

Below high cliffs

I don't dress up by body

I eat roots and wear plants

my socks are hemp my shoes are sedge

dense bamboo shades my windows

thick moss covers the steps in front

desires die in the quiet

cares disappear it's so still

10

Below high cliffs

you eat and sleep your fill

indulge desire and lethargy

idle away the months and years

until old age and illness arrive

and a thousand pains afflict you

digging a well when you're thirsty

you endure heat in vain

~ Stonehouse

from: Book Two Gathas, "The Zen Works of Stonehouse"

by Red Pine

art by Huang Kung-wang

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