This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house 

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door, laughing

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guest from beyond.

As long as we are lost

In the world of purpose

We are not free. I sit

In my ten foot square hut.

The birds sing, The bees hum.

The leaves sway. The water 

Murmurs over the rocks.

The canyon shuts me in.

If I moved, Bashos frog

Would splash in the pool.

All summer long the gold 

Laurel leaves fell through space.

Today I was aware

Of a maple leaf floating

On the pool.  In the night

I stare into the fire.

Once I saw fire cities,

Towns, palaces, wars,

Heroic adventures

In the campfires of youth.

Now I see only fire.

My breath moves quietly.

The stars move overhead. In the clear darkness

Only a small red glow

Is left in the ashes.

On the table lies a cast

Snake skin and an uncut stone.

Everybody wants green scenery

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants food on the table

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants the colourful rainbow

   Nobody wants the rain

Everybody wants water in their bodies

   Nobody wants the rain

I  went to the prairie,

The Expander of Horizons 

To ask about the rain

I stood on the edge of the world 

And watched the rain coming all around 

And the prairie proclaimed a vision 

Each time the gift of rain was offered

   the people ran in fear

Heart's fear perverts darkness into evil

Missing the gift of life hidden in the cloud

Let it rain down, let it rain down

   Let it rain down on me

Everybody wants green scenery

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants food on the table

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants the colourful rainbow

   Nobody wants the rain

Everybody wants water in their bodies

   Nobody wants the rain

I went to the mountain

The Giver of Wisdom 

To ask about the rain

I knelt on ancient rocks

Fifty billion years awake

   and the rocks spoke to me

The rain shapes and molds us

   and turns us to sand

These rain - shaped rocks 

Feed the earth as their dust becomes soil

The mighty mountains are transformed

 By  but a tiny droop of rain

Let it rain down, let it rain down,

   Let it rain down on me

Everybody wants green scenery

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants food on the table

   Nobody wants the rain.

Everybody wants the colourful rainbow

   Nobody wants the rain

Everybody wants water in their bodies

   Nobody wants the rain

I went to the ocean

The Alpha and Omega

To ask about the rain

I sat on the ocean's edge

As but a tiny grain of sand

And the ocean questioned me

Where is my beginning and 

   where is my end?

Ocean's edge is hard to find.

On shore? In sky? Inside my body?

The ocean's end is its own beginning

Let it rain down, let it rain down

   Let it rain down on me