WALKING
by robert winson
(Fish Drum #11/12)

I'm one man
with two jobs
coming and going

walking
in the field of breath

among myriad beings
I'll catch up on wisdom later

Where it is
that all the Buddhas come from

like a man
who often spoke your name
when speaking to you

Never coming in through the door
They don't come in that way

Breathing out fields of living beings
Breathing in tremendous bones

I'm not done
But I did everything I needed to do

Now
nothing to do, nowhere to go

I don't mind
being lost

here
where the mountains stand
on the water

Out of arising
coming & going

Knowing water
by drinking it

 

PLEASURE OF THE UNSPECIFIC KIND
by tom ireland
(Fish Drum #13)

Pink jubilation clouds
like staying up all night to write a paper
then walking empty streets at dawn
the thing done.

Or maybe a girl. A beautiful girl
who smiled at you thirty years ago
on your way to get a roast beef sandwich.

Or Fifth Avenue at Christmas time
smelling secretly the flayed skins
of women's pocketbooks.

Whatever you want to call it.
These unspecific clouds.

 

KNOW BY HEART
by trinh t. min-ha
(Fish Drum #14)

the worst thing
I'll have to recite this
twice a day
the worst thing
is to give
meaning to
something that
hasn't got
any

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