Several years ago, when I was eating lunch alone in the dining area of a university food court, a smiling student recruiter from a major international religious organization asked whether he could speak with me for a moment. I obliged, and he sat down in the chair directly across from me at my table. After […]
reflection
Snow in the Spring Time
Haiku # 1 Snow falls from the skyThe calendar says it’s SpringThe snow does not care Haiku #2 Planning my gardenPrepping the soil to plant seedsSnow ruins my pans Haiku #3 Winter snow is funI enjoy it every yearSpring snow… not so much Support Our Dharma Work
Pandemic Winter Haiku
hospital window —outside, waving and smiling,tears falling on frost Support Our Dharma Work
Watch, listen, and remember. He is all around us
No one can predict the time of one’s passing. More accurately, no one can predict when one dissolves into the bloom of a flower, or returns to the sky as a cloud that is beyond creation and destruction. It was therefore natural that the Hong Kong Buddhist community’s commemoration for Thich Nhat Hanh on the […]
Simple and Direct
A simple solution was the right solution to my meditation problem. But the principle of simplicity when applied on its own can lead to reductionism that ironically makes finding the solution to a problem even more difficult and complex. That’s because following a basic principle cannot provide a complete picture of reality. Simplicity must be […]
A Bond
As lemongrass holds the river’s first shimmer of morning light, you possessme. Drifting in the marsh, my fingertips dipping in the water, like a luminous blue god, you have become an idea that I can no longer doubt without proving my devotion. Yes,you hold me, you hold me, you hold me as wood holds the frame of a house, or as iron […]
If I Were a Philosopher
You know, a rose is not beautiful It is a clump of organic matter pulled from the dirtTransform it into a symbol.Attend to it. Make it beautiful I am not a philosopher. I am just a boy in love. You have my attention. But you knew that already. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included […]
Catacombs of Domitilla
Bones as mere decor. Stored in metallic ink, eachmorning, waking without a comparison point, folded intoa cast-iron pot, fragrant withcumin, and ripe with profaneadverbs, in the unvaccinated catacombs of Domitilla. 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 […]
Birding
Fragile, shalehands holdthe wombwilderness isbornThe CosmosWalleyed PikesJune nights andthe call of LoonsEverything thatwe need to dreamTo feelTo loveSo littleseparatesus from whatwe needThe nightyou werebornWearing the skin of GodThe worldwas bornMy new CosmosAnd by the timeit was writteneven Green Heronin the cool spring marshcould tell me George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been […]
A Moment in the Backyard
The way some fireflies hide within the obsidian grass, faking the blinking signals of cold heat, I waited for you to want my offerings,as badly as I wanted to givethem to you. Perhaps we shall soon understand why. 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 […]