Today Is the Feast Day
Today is the feast day
Of moving to the mountain
And a house in the clouds
Away from the city and people there feeling
Unsettled as clouds
Today is the feast day
Of half an elder life
In a little house of leaks
Cracks drafts nests of birds
Wasps and mice sometimes inside
Where the snake shouldn’t be
And the bear hasn’t been
At least not yet and deer and fox
Live close by also skunks
Raccoons coyotes yesterday a possum
Giving no sign he feels discouraged
By not advancing in all degrees
Toward perfect monkhood transcending a roof
To stand on at sunrise
In need of a teacher who points east and says
Only slowly do rays of the sun
Drive away night and bring on the day
Of no shame in lusting for a luscious mistress
Who likes it best when you surrender
But even better when you resist her
To no avail because though younger
May delight some older enthralls
All the better for knowing how
Many twists and turns in her path
To the kingdom remain for her to discover
On a feast day berries for breakfast
Fresh from the ridge below the summit
Raspberry rubies birds haven’t found
Tanager robin waxwing and jay
Hawks haven’t found at least not yet
Don’t get cocky little feathers same goes for you
With your two pine shelves against the north wall
For scriptures and scrolls sometimes one tires of
Slipping into sleep or staring at supremacy
Of blue and green with none to rebuke or shame with a vow
Never really made what does it matter
A promise of silence if one lives alone
And can’t offend with a stupid tongue
Or break chaste commandments
So far from town with no help to break them
In summer the cicada shrills out a note
Dried up and empty as its own husk
But still with more skill than goes into verse
Only composed for private amusement
When time is heavy on evening hands
All the walks taken all the peaks climbed
All the fine scenery enjoyed without a landlord
The best friends one has are flowers and the moon
And phases of fireflies waxing and waning
In seconds not weeks how remote here
Best of all servants is your own body
If something needs doing do it yourself
If you live alone you won’t be ashamed
By how you look or what you say
Stay a little hungry food will taste better
Sound sleep is luxury having no rival
Feed expectation on the changing of season
It’s not always easy to know what belongs
Entirely to mind but if mind paces restless
Precious things and palaces are of no use