from Daily Tao Tuesday, 29 September, 2009 :: 41

Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest art seems unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

butterflies fall like stars

oatmeal, or the truth

stolen

crack an egg, sharpen it

carry bells and twist them

into glimmering silence

pocket, sleep, imagine

the sky burning

a breathing miasma

of crows

inflated, starving

catching individual seconds

lost and floating

against every passing

inclination

it becomes apparent
that in times
turned
keep twisting to the
apparently
move further with each
reverting to
keep breathing
a defense strategy
repeats
slow down that
even now freshly
slow
a new packaging
covers the same
try the other side
what matters
twist
release everything
always in retrospect
from the inside
apparently
still
stretch
scared
face the other way
unable to hold to

insist upon

each word representing

or at least spelled

accordingly

stand aside

patiently

encouraging

until each syntactical error

is acknowledged

cannot take back characters

sent across wires

first hold each thought

it is best

to linger

with a pencil

outline

each word

like skin remembered

before having met

manage this communication via

sense, a shiver of skin

tasting a future

imaginary

a motor hums, hands lightly touch

the back of

settling toward this

possible

turning over a list

clarification

or suggested intention

always before an encounter

of mismanaged

faith

afterward, as the jeans hang

a strategy of

visualizing

what is your motivation

would be prudent

to assume

or communicate in virtual

time

hanging

a strategy of enclosed spaces

hum relieves shaking

toward the image

denim, faded, impossible to

see the fog of recall

hanging around shoulders

thighs

impossible to see before

or after

the distance

from that

to this

from DailyTao.org

Thursday, 10 September, 2009 :: 22

If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.

The Master, by residing in the Tao,
sets an example for all beings.
Because he doesn't display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn't know who he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.

When the ancient Masters said,
"If you want to be given everything, give everything up,"
they weren't using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.

highlight the hours in layers
time it
from one category to another
you were never listening
nod
hum
mismatched lyrics
each space a specific
bells
reminders
pages of detail in order
to arrive
at exactly this

days
events
a wish, underlined
no longer worthwhile to hear
single notes
in correspondence

instead
schedule
the rest
of

the only thing moving

1.
blind manifest of
waste(ing) verbena
(scent seeps steep)
you curve above an
inflection
blind wither(ing)
speed covers red
or scaly
(a steep scent)
(the nape of)
blackbird over verbena
(whistling) hard ball
on parade
seeps


2.

hardball she called over verbena
a scaly inflection withers
red, blind, steep
the nape an angle
a blackbird a curve
on parade

cover over under a splash of green each day is new but what did you notice previously is what he said after confessing to metallic noise a skip through the park fashion design the messy details shatter each instant always turning over don’t forget what happened yesterday but do leave it behind as useful but no longer real an impression of having come so far a pink sky behind industrial jobs and pollution turning this chance into temporary use the pain to an advantage images captured sentiments fill senses the weed that flowers by chance

DailyTao.org, The Book of The Way, Day by Day

Tuesday, 1 September, 2009 :: 13


Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is a dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it,
your position is shaky.
When you stand with your two feet on the ground,
you will always keep your balance.

What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear?
Hope and fear are both phantoms
that arise from thinking of the self.
When we don't see the self as self,
what do we have to fear?

See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.



Translation by Stephen Mitchell.
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