The times have come again
When only the fool values the truth
And the insane may speak aloud,
Do what is right and get away.

The wisdom of the wise has come to naught
And the saints have returned to God.
The smart populate the world
Eating the manna that grows from below.

I wait that the mind may fall silent
And for the heart to awake
To listen before it speaks.

Tomorrow I will plant a tree
Whose roots reach into the sky
And build a house
With its entrance in the back.

But today I will follow Du Mu
Who opened a flask of wine
And, asleep, sailed down the autumn river
Like a fishing boat in the rain.

Ralph Jensen (c) 2016. All rights reserved.

Bamboo
broken and fallen
litters my way.

Cars yielding humbly
as if for reason
but for a moment
only today.

The river returned to its borders
The air breathes calmly again
The clouds let me see the sky

Broken leaves
like a moment in time.

Now we see
but soon we will only remember
because just like the river
life wanders forward
It never looks back.

Ralph Jensen (c) 2016. All rights reserved.