"3 Spring Zens"

(27)

“Dinosaur Zen” 

(Previously published as Television Zen July 10, 2015. Edited since.)

I was watching TV last night.

It was a movie about prehistoric times.

Although, it being prehistoric, 

How would they know?

A young woman with big breasts 

In a little costume 

Was fighting a dinosaur.

She had plenty of zen!

Her zen was in her bravery

As she fought the dinosaur.

And in her costume,

Which struggled to contain her.

Just in the nick of time a handsome muscleman 

In another tiny costume came along.

He quickly assessed the situation

And knew just what to do.

His zen was mighty!

His zen was the zen of valor!

He fought and slew the dinosaur.

Then he was kissed by the movie cavewoman 

With the big you-know-whats.

The camera made sure I saw

Them crushing against his manly chest,

Straining to break free from the tiny costume,

While the dinosaur 

In the background writhed and bled.

For him the straining was over.

Then as the music swelled 

Up came the words,

The End.

Hmmm.

I wonder where 

That dinosaur is now?

He had the most zen of all.

(30)

“Zen in Outer Space”

(Previously published Aug 28, 2015. Edited since.)

Is there zen in outer space?

Or is it just the sound 

Of no hands clapping?

It appears empty.

Yet it is fuller than we know.

It is even filled with things we cannot see,

But can only, 

For the time being,

Guess at.

Yes, outer space is 

Beautiful and mysterious.

Like zen is.

And patiently awaits 

Our further discovery.

Like zen does.

But, and here’s the difference,

Unlike outer space,

Zen is everywhere!

Yes! 

There is an endless supply of zen 

In the universe!

But only so much space.

(31)

“Zen in a Canna Leaf”

I saw some zen this morning, 

In sunlight 

Beaming through a canna leaf.

I try to be observant.

Especially in my garden,

Because you never know 

What you might see.

The sunlight is strong around here in the morning.

Strong enough 

To pass through a canna leaf anyway.

To pass through and nourish,

Leaving a trace 

Of beauty behind.

A miracle for my brain 

To ponder,

And my heart to delight in!

Thank you, creator!

For eyes and heart 

That see beauty 

All around me.

Beauty in the simplest things…

The normally unnoticed things…

The unchancy things…

Thank you for that beauty, too!

And for the understanding 

That flows from Zen.

“For A Minute There I Was Worried”

I found some zen in my garden today.

But that’s no trick.

I find some every time

I enter my garden.

It’s a beautiful place filled with love.

Summer or winter.

Dawn or dusk.

Empty and quiet,

Or loud and full of life!

My garden is loaded with good zen!

After all, 

Zen and love

Are the same thing.

Or perhaps two sides of the same thing.

So I use it extravagantly while I’m there,

Blowing it all on the good life!

Wasting it like it was money

Or something equally valueless.

And I take all I want

In a huge doggy bag 

When I leave, too.

Ha! Ha!

It’s like I was

A zen-dog millionaire!

Hmmm.

Now I’m worried.

Is this a sustainable practice? 

Should I be conserving my zen?

Am I possibly using too much?

How much is there?

Will it last?

Will there be enough zen to keep me

And comfort me in my old age?

Yikes!

At the rate I’m going, 

(Extravagant fool  

That I am!)

There won’t be enough 

To last me more than,

Let’s see… multiply by eight, carry the two,

Hmmmm,

About four trillion years!

Give or take a few hundred millions.

Phew!

For a minute there

(A very un-zen-like moment!)

I was worried.

But I’m okay now.

Four trillion years.

A four followed by twelve zeros.

Four thousand thousand thousand thousand.

4X10 to the power of 12.

Anyway one looks at it,

That’s a lot of time.

More time (by far) 

Than the universe has existed,

So they believe.

But just to make sure,

The way time flies around here

And the way I go through the stuff,

I’d better get to my zen garden again pretty soon.

And stock up now for later.

Hmmm. 

Now, where did I

Put that

Doggy bag?

Are You Getting Enough Zen?

Are You Getting Enough Zen?

Excuse me.

I hate to interrupt.

I see you’re busy.

Living life sometimes takes all we’ve got, doesn’t it?

Looks like that’s the case with you right now.

You seem to be coping well.

And that’s all we can hope to do.

Cope well.

But I have a question.

Because I love you.

(Although I know that gives me no special privileges,

This love of mine.)

My question is this:

Are you getting enough zen?

Because zen is important.

I could lend you some if you’re short.

I’ve been doing well lately 

And currently I’ve got plenty.

Not bragging.

Just saying.

Wouldn’t want to piss my zen off by bragging.

You see, my zen does all the work

And I take all the credit.

Remember as you cope 

That zen works that way for you too.

For me and you both.

That’s the beauty of it!

Zen and the Big Bang

My zen rushes out,

Like everything else,

From the big bang when they say things began.

Rushing out into the universe.

A universe that is ever expanding

And has no end.

Big stuff!

My zen was there at the beginning.

And it will be there in the …

Oh, that’s right.

There is no end.

But my zen will still be there,

(Wherever that is)

Nourishing me.

For the essence of me will still exist and require nourishing.

No matter how far the universe expands.

In the meantime

It’s hard to know where I fit

Into all this rushing vastness.

I feel so small and inconsequential.

Hmmm.

So what!

As long as I’m along for the ride,

Rushing into infinity with my zen, 

What should I care?

Arthur’s Zen

When I was a lad.

It seems a thousand centuries ago,

But really it was 1969.

(Although with zen as strong as mine,

I’m not denying the possibility that it could have been a thousand centuries ago

And still be 1969.)

Anyway, when I was a lad

I began my working life

At the bottom of a road construction ditch.

I shoveled the shit that had accumulated there,

From the bottom of the ditch to the top.

Our gang boss was named Arthur.

He was feared by all,

For he could be a violent man

When he wanted something

Or thought he had been wronged.

Which seemed to be often.

It was only years later,

When the concept of zen became more clear to me,

That I realized what a great zen master Arthur was.

He was indifferent to everything.

Hot or cold didn’t matter.

Good or bad didn’t matter.

You or me didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.

As long as he got his way.

Of course Arthur didn’t realize he was instructing me.

Giving me, for my pains,

Of which he himself caused a few

With a cuff to the ear at the bottom of a shitty ditch

All those years ago,

A lesson in life.

Yes, he didn’t realize he was giving me

An insight into the way things are.

Which is what zen is after all.

He’s been dead a long time,

Arthur has.

I wonder where he is now?

I probably never said thank you

For all the knowledge he gave me.

So from the year 2015,

Arthur,

Wherever you are, 

I thank you!