On a quiet rocky cove

Sat against a whitewashed wall, eyelids not so far apart
Snow cut off the road outside so I couldn’t make a start
But I’d have put it all to rest, as soon as it was seen
Looking in to find it somewhere, just a barrier in between

A broken-toothed old barbarian brought it carefully back home
The ocean’s active spirit washed away its sacred name
No wind was moving anything, pulling silence from the air
Crippled by my senses I was trapped inside a lair

Coming from the West, I’d moved north to the Far East
All that happens comes in waves, above and underneath
The one who talks of peace was awakening those who sleep
Originally the one who is a messenger of the deep

A fine monk poet who transmit to us with tea and one small bowl
Was the old eccentric master living in a hut with many holes
He said die to your self, walk on, and don’t look back at him
The expanse of water flowing there is that in which to swim

Sitting daily doing nothing but noticing every counted now
On an evening as the sun went down with no more wondering how
I embraced the stream’s clear water, in confidence I dove
And by morning I’d reached the infinite on a quiet rocky cove