Off the Tree
A Steady Succession of I's
What’s forming now?
Sometimes it’s too crowded to see.
Sometimes its movement, clear.
A ferris wheel dropping off new characters every time it reaches the bottom.
The One Who Seeks.
The One Who Made This Dinner.
The One Who Must Fix Silence with Conversation.
I read the following exchange:
Monk: What happens when the leaves are falling and the trees are bare?
Unmon: The golden wind, revealed!
I lean forward.
Without a word—
I know that tree.
I’ve seen this wind take the leaves.
Then—the crowd begins to speak.
I should write something.
Hurry, get it down.
This is good, it will lead somewhere.
I understand what it means.
Each a leaf.
Falling. Joining colored wind.
If there is an exit from this, I haven’t found it.
The realization aches.
Seeker.
Writer.
The One Who Needs Fixing.
A steady succession of I’s.
Golden.
What’s forming now.
The exchange is a Zen koan attributed to Yunmen (Unmon).
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Yes, so well stated. Very familiar. Thank you for the reminder… lasting a few minutes and fading out.