I have yet to find my sangha, And yet, Intermittently, Between my cynicism and doubt, I sometimes still find Unexpected diamonds Along muddy roads Bearing overflowing cups Of calming tea.

Meeting We meet each other Wearing coats of practical invisibility To the souls beyond our shells— Mere glimpses Of that collection of aggregates That forge our personhood Blind to who we are And who we might be We grow to see the other To both share And find Discontinuity To love Until we find the edges Of our borders To learn Where crossover And impassivity Exist To experience The connections That foster closing distances Between ourselves And the limits to our linkages Bur

May all sentient beings remember When standing waist deep in muddy water That we still have all that is requisite and sufficient For deliverance.

May all sentient beings remember When standing waist deep in muddy water That we still have all that is requisite and sufficient For deliverance.

From the recently released poetry book, Eightfold: Zen Poetry for Blindly Clasping Beings, here is the poem, "Craving, Part I" : Eightfold: Zen Poetry for Blindly Clasping Beings is a collection of sixty poems that reflect the author’s continual conversation with secular Buddhist thought on human nature, the struggles of existence, and the self-made and human-crafted challenges of modern life. These poems center on a layperson’s striving to find presence in the world, offerin