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Teacher Of Variation
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Teachers & Gurus TEACHER OF VARIATION
The ough in cough
she said not to do
when listening in public
to Rachmaninoff.
The ough in through
she taught rhymes with do
as in 'keep all animals
out of the zoos'.
The ough she said
as in 'ready and rough'
rhymes with Roosevelt..
Teddy so tough.
Rhymes with a vow
.. does the ough in bough
as in 'vow not to eat
fishes but
fruit from the bough'
And the ough in dough
is oh... so so
It's better to eat tomato
and 2 toned avocado.
(to my mother who
taught 1st grade
for many years
as she took care
of her invalid
husband and children..
and taught us too..
the many sounds of 'ough')
WINGED GUIDES
As he journeyed,
birds flew in front
of him to guide him..
at night spiders were
peaceweaving
messages to him in
their webs
.. the trees worked
with the wind to fan him
.. the sun gave him
unconditional warmth
.. everywhere all
beings returned the love
he gave.
BUDDHA IN CHINA
He walked toward
us.. this man born
in 1963 under Aquarius..
.. there was a cloud
of peace around him...
which lifted us slightly
above the ground..
severing our magnetism
with Mother Earth..
so that things of
the world receded..
we knew that he
cared for all beings..
we knew that he cared
for us as well.
He served us in
a Chinese restaurant..
the rice and coffee
became
bread and wine
in an ancient
sacrament of
initiation.
Some are stars
shining beyond
the cyclone..
the dry place
within the monsoon
.. the warm shelter
in the hurricane
.. the calm center
.. of the typhoon
but Buddhas, sometimes
wordless, reveal
to us
that we are all.
FOUR ELEMENTS
Some carry air
.. a cloud of peace
.. others are water
.. flowing with empathy
.. still others are earth
.. rock solid.. and faithful
.. and then there is fire
.. warming the cockles of our
hearts with the power of love
BECKONING BEACONS
Beacons beckoning..
stars summoning
comets calling
Light lifting
Milky Way invoking
our upward look
(to Madge D )
WE SAY WHAT WE MUST LEARN
How is it that preachers
are the most arrogant of teachers
.. that some police like war
.. the martial like some police
more than being officers of peace
that male gynecologists
lose their lustre
when they become
powertripping lusters
EMILY'S WALNUT TREE
If Emily were given
a prize
for poems
of the most brevity
.. she might reply
.. her teacher
was the walnut tree..
Most times his
gifts of nut are most
neatly shellwrapped..
but ribbonless..
unlike the sun
with rays ribboned
or the sea
with rivers ribboned
JACKS IN THE PULPIT
Pastor Jack
in the Pulpit preached
that stealing was not
of the Gospel of God
while standing in the
stolen skins
of cows his feet were shod
Meanwhile in the fields
the Jacks In Pulpit grew
..spinning bright finery
for themselves
easily from the sod
ZEN MASTER
When he saw the rock of
himself waver in the rippling
reflection of the master's
pool.. he thought
he had chosen an unstable
teacher.. one not
well grounded..
until he realized
his master was melting
his rock.
