August 2016
Dick Allen
rallen285@earthlink.net
rallen285@earthlink.net
Influenced by the example of Donald Hall, in 2001 I took early retirement from a college teaching endowed chair in order to write poems virtually full time, drive Hondas around America, study Zen, listen to bluegrass, and search for the nation’s best Chinese buffet.My new poetry collection, Zen Master Poems, will be published on August 23, 2016 by Wisdom, Inc. /Simon & Schuster. Should anyone be interested, it can be checked out or preordered by clicking this link : www.wisdompubs.org/book/zen-master-poems. More Zen Master poems can be found weekly at my homepage/blog: https://zenpoemszenphotosdickallen.net
The Zen Master Quenches His Thirst
Summer water tastes of storms,
wind and thunder-dragons.
In the mouth, winter water
tastes far off, and cracks like a newly frozen lake.
“One must have a mind of winter, “
wrote Wallace Stevens,
and be “nothing…nothing”
to taste winter water.
But Autumn water? Ah,
the pale and chill of Autumn water!
Or water from the plum rain season,
flower blossoms settled on the tongue.
The Zen Master Quenches His Thirst
Summer water tastes of storms,
wind and thunder-dragons.
In the mouth, winter water
tastes far off, and cracks like a newly frozen lake.
“One must have a mind of winter, “
wrote Wallace Stevens,
and be “nothing…nothing”
to taste winter water.
But Autumn water? Ah,
the pale and chill of Autumn water!
Or water from the plum rain season,
flower blossoms settled on the tongue.
©2016 Dick Allen
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