August 1 - Immigrant Magic doesn't work in this new place. Native poetry has lost rhythm and rhyme, Familiar food is labeled a curiosity, And hostile stares...
Men flow into life, and ebb into death. Some are filled with life; Some are empty with death; Some hold fast to life, and thereby perish, For life is an...
August 2 - Form At first, form is needed. Then doubt and inhibition must be dispelled. Eventually, form is celebrated with joy, And expression becomes...
The Way bears all things; Harmony nurtures them; Nature shapes them; Use completes them. Each follows the Way and honours harmony, Not by law, But by being. ...
DECLINE Fog chills heaven to gray, Nights come earlier. Everyone knows decline, But few discern its border. Although it is summer and there are many warm...
The origin of the world is its mother; Understand the mother, and you understand the child; Embrace the child, and you embrace the mother, Who will not perish...
POETRY Anything is subject for a poem : A catalog of boxing equipment, a collage of other poems, Serpentine trail of incense, raised deer fur, old shoes...
With but a small understanding One may follow the Way like a main road, Fearing only to leave it; Following a main road is easy, Yet people delight in...
RUNAWAY They call her useless And yet push for achievement. "I want a baby." They bicker between themselves, And reproach her for being distant. "My friends...
Look in and see the yin. Look out and see the yang. Look in and out and see the Dao, And now you see the whole shebang! Jim Clatfelter Okay, that's my poem for...
thank you Jim In a message dated 8/5/2008 3:28:33 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time, jclatfelter@... writes: Look in and see the yin. Look out and see the...
Cultivate harmony within yourself, and harmony becomes real; Cultivate harmony within your family, and harmony becomes fertile; Cultivate harmony within your...
OWNERSHIP A small boy drives A hundred ducks to the lake With a tasseled stick : A mass of excited white. A small boy can command an entire flock of ducks with...
Who is filled with harmony is like a newborn. Wasps and snakes will not bite him; Hawks and tigers will not claw him. His bones are soft yet his grasp is sure,...
COMPOSURE Although they may have to kill Or suffer themselves to be killed, A person of composure remains dispassionate. Nothing is ever destroyed, Nothing is...
Who understands does not preach; Who preaches does not understand. Reserve your judgments and words; Smooth differences and forgive disagreements; Dull your...
Here's a haiku version of verse 42: Just what is the Dao? It is yin on my shoulders And yang in my arms. Orphaned, abandoned, Lonely and impoverished, This too...
THRESHOLD Why mourn for a cocoon After the butterfly has flown? Death is one of the few givens in life, and yet we fear it. We immaturely deny its presence or...
Do not control the people with laws, Nor violence nor espionage, But conquer them with inaction. For: The more morals and taboos there are, The more cruelty...
NONDUALITY Don't contemplate As mere activity. Be void contemplating void. Once one understands that the ultimate nature of this existence is void, one...
When government is lazy and informal The people are kind and honest; When government is efficient and severe The people are discontented and deceitful. Good...
BE Tao is within us; Tao surrounds us. Part of it may be sensed, And is called manifestation. Part of it is unseen, And is called void. To be with Tao is...
Manage a great nation as you would cook a delicate fish. To govern men in accord with nature It is best to be restrained; Restraint makes agreement easy to...
CHARLATANS He sits on a throne with smug confidence. Skin in bright gold, eyes are reptilian marbles. Lips are smeared with honey, tongue is virile red. He...
When you use the Way to conquer the world, Your demons will lose their power to harm. It is not that they lose their power as such, But that they will not harm...
INDIFFERENCE For a true master, Sitting on a throne Is no different than Sitting on dirt. A true master is indifferent to the ways of society. Ambition, ...
A nation is like a hierarchy, a marketplace, and a maiden. A maiden wins her husband by submitting to his advances; Submission is a means of union. So when a...
PREJUDICE No mother thinks her child ugly. No one is indifferent to themselves. We are all familiar with prejudice. It comes in many forms : nationalism,...
The Way is the fate of men, The treasure of the saint, And the refuge of the sinner. Fine words are often borrowed, And great deeds are often appropriated; ...
