Hank Lazer
Two Poems
PIVOT
to shepherd them through
to save all beings
what can any one person do
we name it heavy rain
the Way called Way
is not (exactly) the Way
how much does the cloud cover weigh
an end stop is temporary
each comes along & adds
a new spin to the story
this is Talmud this is Soto Zen
is there one moon or two
*
mind is wide
to be there
takes practice
nothing didactic
in that open
endless space
my face before i
was born is
the same as deep
space there really
are nurseries where
more stars are being born
*
they could fly
& had stations in the sky
telescopes & cameras
that could see light
a billion years & miles away
enigma
riddle
who knew if any of this
would be enough
other beings gave them
diseases & one by one
they went under
*
trapped by anger
trapped by outrage
trapped by the news
is this the pivot
point wearing
the Tathagata’s teaching
saving all beings
this impossible life
& how much can one
in the moment
turn
the dharma wheel
*
can you give me a read
on that submarine
the fires are out of
control the children
at the border can’t find
their parents
we are told it is ok
not to believe
what the scientists say
there once was a house here
what killed the coral
everyone is trying to move away from it
*
as if you never knew
as if it were not hidden
as if you knew it for a moment
as if it then receded
one mountain is enough
one hillside is enough
one fire is enough
one pond is enough
when water sees water
when mountains are time
when a body is a mountain
when mind is on fire
PLEASE
gray
sky
quiet
light
rain
*
the boy
& his father
digging new post holes
for the catch pen
*
the light of fact
such as the human
mind holds it
& the everlasting
bright light of the page
*
the hell of our imagination
enacted in earthly
deeds
cruelty greed war
profit deforestation
evil spread over
this solid earth
turn
please turn again
oh dharma wheel
please speed up again
*
it is now
her cedar tree
made so
by a circle of ashes
as every
body
is a place of change
—11/5/2022 / Duncan Farm