“I Have a Thing for My Swimming Pool”

(85)

“I Have a Thing for My Swimming Pool”

I have a thing for my swimming pool.

16,000 gallons of good zen!

Apart from many other reasons

To have a thing for a swimming pool,

Such as its beauty,

Its fun, 

Or its health benefits,

My swimming pool seems to say,

“Put aside your cares and enjoy life!”

I especially like to swim at night,

When I have the pool all to myself.

I take off my clothes

And stand naked in the moonlight.

Just me and the pool and the delicious darkness.

And my zen of course.

Hmmm. 

That makes four of us, doesn’t it?

Maybe I wasn’t as alone with the night

As I thought I was.

Anyway, tonight 

I thought I’d have a swim.

So I took my clothes off as usual.

And I stood, as usual, naked 

In the moonlight for a minute or two.

The light breeze felt good.

Then I stepped to the pool’s edge

And looked down into the water.

I could see the full moon’s image 

Reflected upon the dark, still surface.

And I began to think…

I thought of the cosmos,

Of it’s precision and vastness.

I thought of the moon reflected,

Whirling around the earth once a month

Without ever changing her expression.

I thought of the Earth.

Our beautiful Earth.

The planet we stand upon,

And how rich it is with plenty for all,

If we could only learn to share.

Then I thought of you and I. 

Small, fragile, imperfect.

But capable of love 

And to some degree, 

Of understanding. 

And my heart ached to realize

One day we’ll be nothing but dust.

Us and everything we ever knew.

But we’ll go on together, you and I, my love!

The essences of ourselves will go on together

To the stars and beyond 

The vastness of forever

To eternity!

Is love that strong?

Standing naked at the pool’s edge,

Alone in the delicious night,

I thought how every minute 

That has ever gone before, 

Eons of time amounting to trillions of years 

Of human development

From caveman to spaceman to superman,

Has led us to this point!

This very second!

The second I was occupying.

The here and now.

I looked into the water and saw

With more than just my eyes.

I was seeing with zen!

And with this wonderful zen-sight

I saw how everything is interconnected,

Coming down and through and into all of us. 

Everything that ever was

Or ever will be!

Past present future! 

You me all!

Everything!

All this I visualized

In the blink of an eye

As I stared into my swimming pool.

Then I closed my eyes…

Took a deep breath…

And dove in.

Full Moon Zen

I saw some zen in the full moon last night.

Or rather say I saw some zen

In the moon’s reflection.

For I’d carefully placed a bucket

Half-filled with water

In a little clearing out back between the palm trees,

To catch the moon’s reflection

If it happened by this way.

Ha! Ha! So big and glorious an object

Caught in my old bucket!

I approached the bucket carefully,

Hoping to see the moon I’d caught.

How it gleamed in the dark water!

A perfect little moon.

I gazed into the bucket

And reflected upon the moon's reflection.

Then, emptying my mind,

I found some zen there.

After awhile I turned from gazing into the bucket

To look upon the real thing

Hanging in the sky overhead.

How it gleamed in the dark sky!

A perfect little moon.

Hmmm, I thought.

It’s wonderful to have a moon above us.

A friendly influence in high places.

A heavenly cameo shining brightly

To light our way in the night.

A moon to ponder upon and gain courage from.

To inspire both the lovesick

And the lunatics.

And the rest of us too.

(Although lovesick or lunatic

Probably covers everybody.)

Oh moon!

Forever flying the skies you make friendly,

Thank you for your zen.