TheHiddenCity.com.

READ

Summer 2001.

Before a Person Studies Zen

by Mary Panza

"Before a person studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters are once again waters." Zen saying.

You think you are Wyatt Earp when really you are Roy Rogers.
And yes I mean the chicken place.

You are the middle-aged man with the IROC that you used to make fun of.

You had to rise above me and my nonsense in one breath and in the next tell me that shit floats up.

You told me my standards were impossibly high and I said nothing. I knew at least that I had some.

You were the one proclaiming sobriety but the straw dangling out of your nose distracted me.

You see just because you sit on top of that mountain and meditate does not
Make you Buddha. It makes you a cokehead with a cliché car, a scag girlfriend, and no standards, spouting bullshit.

You see, I could tell you exactly what I think of you,

But I think I will write a poem instead.

After enlightenment, MARY PANZA will once again by Mary Panza.