distilled from the blood of others
this thing you get showered with
big shining teeth
and hunger insatiable
raise the glass, toast the past
prove yourself an ass
drink the weakness of the weak
as you ooze among them
while the strong are buried in early graves
if they're lucky
named on lists somewhere
perhaps even carved in cold stone
if recorded at all
drink deep the gilded light
drink the glory
i hope it chokes you
In all the kingdom southward
From the center of the earth
Where is he who understands my Zen?
Should the master Kido himself appear
He wouldn't be worth a worn-out cent.
Ikkyū (d. 1481)
Kido was a Chinese Zen master who Ikkyū considered an espiritual forebear. Ikkyū understood the wisdom of finding his own path: if the Buddha had stood on the way to illumination, Ikkyū would have chopped his head off.
I was born into this world
I leave it at my death.
Into a thousand towns
My legs have carried me,
And countless homes—
What are all these?
A moon reflected in the water
A flower floating in the sky
Ho!
please don't trap me deep in the dark earth
to come visit and mourn my past worth
place no stone on my head
to make sure i stay dead
showing name and dates of death and birth