No ugliness
in a loved child.
No one buys water
down by the riverside.
A dead stag
in the field:
Grass
wraps it.
Where no Buddha,
the Buddha works.
Hide yourself
—within the North Star.
Better see his face
than hear his name.
He dies,
I die —
Where can we
meet?
Jump out of the world
of Satori!
Great skill looks
like clumsiness.
Hide yourself in
each and every thing!
Sprinkling piss
on sacred soil.
A three-foot staff
stirs
the Yellow River.
The mountain is high:
the moon, late.
High mountains,
running water —
I'm waiting for
the one who knows.
A withered tree
meets spring no more.
Clouds gone,
the mountain shows.
Shouldering the plank
—till death.
A dumb man has eaten
a bitter cucumber.
I've seen through you
already.
compiled by bob arnold
_______________________
translated by Soiku Shigematsu
foreword by Gary Snyder
from A ZEN FOREST
Sayings of the Masters
(Weatherhill 1981)
