Poems from a new book of poetry from ko shin, Bob Hanson, warrior poet - Working Title: Still Chasing Windmills, why not

Standing, for decades, old trees

Rough skinned, many arms going off like an

Ancient Healing Buddha, or uncombed hair

Years of life broken by wind, rain snow, human beings…

When cut down, or downed by a storm

Revealing all those circles

Telling a story of life, a journey,

The weather, turmoil, old, solid hard wood,

Soon aging in the sun and rain

Then warming the home, fire wood,

  

A Birch walking stick

A protection on the walk each day

Strong, giving support to my old knees

Yet, it does not give direction

I guess I need to know where I am going don’t I?

 The end of the day....

Brown, red, yellow

the signs of fall, a season of harvest

a time of death and rest for the earth

a time of travel for the butterflies, the sand hill cranes

and many more families of the earth

they say, might be snow north of here tonight

to early for me

but who is in control

we know who has set up the destruction of the earth

but we are still not in charge.

we spend so much time

remembering the past

just returned from my 55th high school reunion

did I really do those things 55 years ago and more?

we spend too much time wondering about  tomorrow

all we have is the moment

wake up live it, be it

or scrap it....

2013 went by very quickly

2014 will be a new challenge for all beings

sit quiet for awhile

be mindful of your breath, your body, your heart

for just a moment let it all go

this is it baby

this is all we have

maybe we just need to say, 

thanks!

photo by ko shin on a late afternoon ride, 2013

Why not be one…

-reflection, gratefulness for the cruise….May, 2013 Sicily, Athens, Turkey, Crete

The room is elegant, the table set so beautifully

I am not accustom to so many glasses or silverware

Yes, we were assigned, by numbers I suppose

But isn't it a miracle what a family has been created, by chance…

The servers, showing us what service means

The chefs and all the staff sharing their gifts with us

We gather that first night, strangers and leave, family

Maybe never to see each other again

But for a week

Just a few days

We experience, with different languages, cultures, different ideas

What an oneness, interconnectedness, a friendship this world gives us…

Or, maybe with family and old friends a new experience of what it means

To be connected, by love, memories or a new relationship being celebrated.

Thank You! Yet, lest we forget,

The people of this world right now who have no table, or glasses or food,

Might we gaze on this wonderful experience of the meal, a Eucharist of humanity,

The cruise, as a way to prepare us to serve those is need, with more compassion…

All of you, the stranger, now community, the server, the chef and staff remind me of something,

The ancient chat of the Bodhisattva, in the Buddhist path puts it this way, 

May a rain of food and drink descend
To clear away the pain of thirst and hunger,
And during the eon of famine
May I myself change into food and drink

May I become an inexhaustible treasure
For those who are poor and destitute;
May I turn into all things they need
And may these be placed close beside them

Yes, I ate, I celebrated, I got to know again, or for the first time

The Bodhisattva in you, in all beings, the one, like you and me

Who can move on, but stays back to make sure all beings are blessed

The guest, the server, the chef, the staff….

Is it possible this could happen at home and everywhere?

Let us see…let us try…why not?    Peace!

Why do we remember things from long ago?

No historical data

Just memory

It was an afternoon, in August

Dad was at sea or about to be

I was comfortably squirming in my baby carriage

It was outside a bakery

My Mom rushed out to say to someone

Maybe Leila

They have bombed Pearl Harbor

Now that changed everything for our family

And many more folks

 

How can I remember this?

But it will not leave my mind

So I say, it happened this way…