somewherein the biofield farmhands announce youbuttery blondeand sweet McIntoshapple blushthey gather around your crib of turf and hail you George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South […]
Author: Teahouse
When Silence Fails
It is almost exactly ten yearssince we shared drunken kissesin an unheated barin Chattanooga, Tennessee.Later that night, drunker still,a kiss broke into laughterwhen we rolled off my bedand fell to the floor. Ten years later: youstill in Tennessee, in Nashville, mein Phoenix, Arizona. A catch-upconversation: You told me aboutyour kidney transplants, addictionto pain medication, recovery,getting […]
“Seven Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava” – A Milestone Translation and Song
I remember first listening to the magical Imee Ooi over the speakers of a souvenir shop at Ngong Ping Village, which leads to the famous Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. It was 2010. Her songs, which are contemporary renditions of Buddhist dharanis, mantras, and passages from Buddhist texts, evoke aural Pure Lands. Her ethereal, […]
In Praise of a Cat
— for Brother Ron Fender No tailor’s artistrycould equal the eleganceof my cat’s stripesas he walks into the bathroomwhere I’m taking a shit. Purring, he rubsagainst my legs.He accepts me on anyterms, comes closehowever I smell,loves me without illusion. He makes me ashamedof my own cowardice,of the times I have flinched,repulsed by the stenchof human […]
Memento, to reunite, old neighborhood
The game: you give me a Buddhist-themed noun, an action, and a location, and I create the story. Today, I was given the noun “memento,” the action “to reunite,” and a location “old neighborhood.” Hope you enjoy the read! The smell of freshly baked bread is what gave it away, along with Master’s incessant cooing […]
Snow haiku
snow falling on night of plaguebuilding snowman onhousing scheme football pitch Support Our Dharma Work
The Speed of Light
She is getting in bed when she realises she is outof the half-and-half she takes in her morning coffee.He is still dressed. He tells her he’ll walk to the marketand get some for her. The market is two blocks from their apartment.As he walks, he looks up and sees starsthat have not existed since before […]
Dad
He ate plain oatmeal every morningin the same leather chair that mom got him for Father’s Dayin 88. One breakfast after finishing an orange grapefruit, I told him that I loved him just loud enough so he would not hear George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John […]