the tears of blood

A new day is here. Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is unknown. Now is the knowing. 

Ajahn Sumedho

The moon floats along the Star River. 

Twelve centuries ago, the poet Wang Wei 

called the Milky Way ‘the Star River.’ 

The current on that river flows from galaxy to galaxy. 

Time and distance on this river are its flora and fauna. 

Light and darkness are courage and fear. 

And there villages along the Star River 

where the people do not eat flesh at all. 

In these villages there is a sweet music 

as the moon slowly floats past, 

drifting, drifting.  

james lee jobe

Green Card :: Evidence of Adequate Means of Financial Support, a poem by Ae Hee Lee

Diana Krall, My Love Is

I saw a man whose tears were blood… 

crying on a sidewalk downtown. 

These bloody tears spilled 

over the curb and into the dirty gutter, 

and from there ran down the side of the street. 

Behind this man, who had grief for a companion, 

sorrow for his kinfolk, was a busy coffee shop. 

The people inside dressed like the LL Bean catalog 

and sipped lattes and mochas. 

The sounds of their pleasant conversations 

came out of the open door 

and flowed down the street with the blood. 

Mixed together. And it was a lovely day, 

even though this fellow cried and cried. 

james lee jobe

Anyone who enjoys inner peace is no more broken by failure than he is inflated by success. Matthieu Ricard

Waking from Drunken Sleep on a Spring Day

Life is a dream. No need to stir. Remembering this I’m drunk all day. Lying helpless beside the porch, Waking to see the deep garden. One bird calls among the flowers. Ask myself what’s the season? Song of the oriole in Spring breezes, Voice of beauty sadly moves me. Is there wine? Ah, fill the cup. Sing and watch the white moon rise, until song’s end and sense is gone.

Li Po, 701-761 CE

Poetry does not come from what you know.

W.S. Merwin

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jlj