Introduction

Some years back, I grew interested haiku. Initially, because these short gems struck me as the perfect match for Twitter—a marriage made in digital heaven, as it were. Besides, how hard could it be to write a seventeen-syllable poem.

As I normally do when my interest alights on something, I read several books on the subject (that this time included Higginson and Harter’s wonderful The Haiku Handbook) and from there proceeded to immerse myself in several well-known haiku masters, such as Bashō, Buson, Issa, Shiki, et al.
Meanwhile, I began trying my hand at these things, initially strictly adhering to the five-seven-five syllable format, which, I soon came to find out (from online self-proclaimed haiku gurus), was quite a crude adaptation of that principle seeing that Japanese syllables do not necessarily correspond to English syllables (which are, by expert reckoning, quite unwieldy by comparison). Also, reading a lot of (published and respected) English language haiku I soon realized that both the five-seven-five and the seventeen-syllable “rules” had long since been abandoned by the better (and more creative) haiku poets.

As a result of seeing things in this particular light, I soon began taking liberties with the five-seven-five rule but for some odd reason the seventeen-English-syllable statute remained on the books, refused to leave, had found a home in me—if for no other reason than that my little haikus (which I soon named Wolfkus for an obvious reason) seemed to percolate to the surface fully grown and just about always in a string of seventeen-syllable creations. And when they did not, say they surfaced as an eighteen-syllable Wolfku, or a sixteen-syllable one, well, then I discovered that when I sand-papered the longer ones into seventeen, or added some air into the shorter ones into seventeen: the meaning seemed clearer, more definite—besides, this was a fun exercise (I love language and its many words and their bendable uses).

Struck by something, an image, a feeling, a thought, before long this seventeen-syllable raft came bopping to the surface (having been let go of by some curious and creative, though shy, deep-sea Wolfku deity). During a morning’s walk by the Pacific, three or four or sometimes five of these Wolfkus might surface, and it was all I could do to remember them all until I returned home to a pen or a keyboard.

Sometimes I did forget them, memory like a sieve these days.

Before not so long, many of these Wolfkus arrived more as aphorisms than true haikus, as little containers of distilled perhaps philosophical reflection. Well, since many of them struck me (the creator, or recipient might be a better word) as both unique and insightful, who was I to call a halt to this quite enjoyable, if curious, phenomenon.
A phenomenon that still flourishes and seems to have no intention to do otherwise, for I rarely return from an hour’s walk without some seventeen-syllable epigram or other.

Seeing, though, that the earth from which these Wolfkus sprung (and still spring) was replete with impressions and sometimes micro-epiphanies, I thought that perhaps it was time to revisit these Wolfkus and examine this fertile soil for what else it might hold. What, indeed, I wondered, gave birth to them, what carried them from darkness to light? And where did they, in turn, carry me? This is what gave birth to the idea of Wolfku Musings—a collection of Wolfkus and the soil that sprung them.

I have published Wolfku Musings, Book One, and will soon publish Book Two, to be followed by Three… Four… et cetera.

Meanwhile, I realized that I really should assemble a sort of archive of those Wolfkus that I have posted online, by now running into the several hundred, and also publish future Wolfkus Archives as I write and post them.
Lately, say over the last many months, I’ve begun to give my Wolfkus titles as well, just for, well, I don’t know why really, just felt right. As I now compile these Wolfkus from oldest to newest, I’ve also added titled to those who never had one.

All this said, here then, the twelfth installment.



Wolfkus 1101 – 1200


— 1101 —

Emptiness

Emptiness is cloaked
  in a thousand coats
Here and now
  I shed them all


— 1102 —

Discovery

To dis-cover—
  illuminate
the empty field
  Just be
and perceive


— 1103 —

Shikantaza

By doing nothing
  in stillness
we see all illusory
  movements


— 1104 —

Deaths

That was so many
  deaths ago
So much disrupted
  memory ago
So many slammed-shut
  prison gates ago
So much ago
  ago


— 1105 —

What Is

Whatever is, is—
  and I shall sit
still enough
  long enough
to see


— 1106 —

Language

On so many levels
  in so many layers
I hide in language


— 1107 —

Is-Ness

Whatever is, is
Whatever rises, rises
Whatever fades, fades


— 1108 —

Poetry

Dancing among
  metaphors
Frolicking
  in language
High as a hawk


— 1109 —

Cul-de-Sac

You cannot think
  your way out
  of thinking
breathe
  your way out
  of breathing


— 1110 —

Window

Sitting is now
  an open window
on the ineffable
  valley


— 1111 —

Illusion

Do we need to know
  Illusion’s ins-and-outs
or just the Fact of it?


— 1112 —

Final Gap

“Yeah, sure,”
says Mahayana
“but our Nirvana
  goes to eleven.”


— 1113 —

Letting Go

I shed the earth
I shed the stars
I shed the sky
  no such thing
am I


— 1114 —

Non-Dual

In silent samadhi
  the river of life
  runs pure
and undisturbed


— 1115 —

Prison Earth

This planet
  is all about
food
  protection
procreation
  period


— 1116 —

Interest

Surely, interest
  is spiritual
Just like hunger
  is physical


— 1117 —

Falling

Once you’ve fallen
  through all
  ages past
You find yourself
  in the present


— 1118 —

Altitude

Maintain or gain
  altitude
Never lose height
  Nor step back
Never fall


— 1119 —

Silent Illumination

Says Hongzhi—
  Sit simply
  in stillness
and silently
  investigate


— 1120 —

Thusness

Equally thus
  body and mind
Simply sit
  and perceive
  them truly


— 1121 —

Zazen

Just sitting means
  neither chase
  nor resist
It means be
  and let be
It means wide-open
  and wide-aware


— 1122 —

Dear Guru

Either define
  your terms
in unequivocal
  language
or shut up


— 1123 —

Words

In meditation
  words set
  directions
then silently
  fall away


— 1124 —

Paths

In sitting
  I no longer walk
the trance-path
  I simply want
  to see


— 1125 —

Stillness

The stiller I sit
  the deeper my gaze
the clearer this
  ancient view


— 1126 —

Conze

Reading Conze
  is like
  listening to
an old friend
  telling you
  things


— 1127 —

Brain

What if the brain
  is nothing but
a rechargeable
  mind battery?


— 1128 —

Seeing

Methinks: surely
  chasing thought
will always get
  in the way
of seeing


— 1129 —

River

To make a river
  flow upstream
just be the river
  and flow
  upstream


— 1130 —

Language

Suspended
  in stillness
I reach
  for language—
for some
  word company


— 1131 —

Buddha

Methinks: “Buddha”
  is just another word
for knowing
  what’s going on


— 1132 —

Falling

Once you have fallen
  through all ages past
You find yourself
  back in Now


— 1133 —

Emptiness

Methinks that
  surely
Emptiness is
  a silent
  synonym
for All


— 1134 —

Truth

Truth is neither
  holy nor mystical
It is simply:
  what is, is


— 1135 —

Two

When you know
  how Emptiness
like a cell, divided
  You know
  all things


— 1136 —

Tiger Spirit

I am a restless
  tiger spirit
pacing the cage
  of Samsara


— 1137 —

Zazen

I zazen to break down
  the many walls
between my stillness
  and yours


— 1138 —

Natures

Ego-Nature
 versus
Buddha-Nature
Lie versus truth
  —discern this


— 1139 —

Eternity

Eternity cannot
  have a beginning
Forever does not
  start


— 1140 —

Selves

Ego-self versus
  Universal-self
Slavery versus
  Freedom


— 1141 —

Sargasso

I am treading water
  in a silent Sargasso
of empty words


— 1142 —

Edge

I’m sitting on
  the edge
  of ego-mind
feet dangling
  in Buddha-mind


— 1143 —

Nivarana

Just let them
  all go:
Desire
  Aversion
Inertia
  Worry
Doubt


— 1144 —

My Path

A distilling and
  reconciling of
many teachers
  and teachings


— 1145 —

Legerdemain

God’s biggest
  problem and trick
was how to make
  things appear
to persist


— 1146 —

Humans

All human senses
  and feelings are
mind-interpreted
  Chemistry


— 1147 —

Expressing
  the Inexpressible

I walk and explore
  the nebulous edges
of words and their
  language


— 1148 —

String Quartets

String Quartets
  are Classical Music’s
equivalent of Poetry


— 1149 —

Sequential

There’s no
  such thing as
sequential—
  that would imply
both past
  and future


— 1150 —

Moonlight Rain

In silent samadhi
  I transmute again
from dream
  to moonlight rain


— 1151 —

With Speed

Have you ever tried
  to step on a shadow
before it steps on you?


— 1152 —

Letting Go

The more I let go
  the finer things
  grow—fading
just like
  my passions


— 1153 —

Mountain

I beseeched
  a thousand Saints
They bestowed
  a thousand Truths
One Mountain

I beseeched
  a Willow Tree
It bestowed
  a single Truth
No Mountain


— 1154 —

Just Sitting

Each day I roam
  my meditative
  landscape
by liquid map
  of light


— 1155 —

Equanimity

Wholly transparent
  No barriers
and no claws
What rises
  just glides


— 1156 —

Cage

Seems like
  language reifies
  and energizes
the bars of my cage

Sometimes I even
  think that language
constitutes
  the bars of
  my cage


— 1157 —

Flowing

Let every notion
  and particle
just flow
  Never grasp
or resist


— 1158 —

Stillnesses

I am the stillness
  within you, and
You are the stillness
  within me


— 1159 —

Creation

Before the
  very beginning
Brahman’s nose
  tingled
and then
  Achooooo…


— 1160 —

Fooled

Desire fools you
  into believing
you don’t already
  have it


— 1161 —

My Universe

My private universe
  (thoughts and images)
obscures the eternal

Thus, I shed
  its every galaxy
  its every sun
  its every earth

I shed
  its every view
  its every particle
  its every last trace

Finding air
  between somewhere
and nowhere
  between someone
and no one


— 1162 —

Our Universe

Our common universe
  (forms and sensations)
obscures the eternal

Thus, I shed
  its every galaxy
  its every star
  its every earth

I shed
  its every space
  its every particle
  its every last trace

Airless now
  between somewhere
and nowhere
  between someone
and no one


— 1163 —

Letting Go

Meditation—
  letting go willingly
Death—
  letting go at gunpoint


— 1164 —

Distances

There are no
  mind distances
but for those
  I first conceive
  then perceive

There are no
  time distances
but for those
  I first conceive
  then perceive

There are no
  heart distances
but for those
  I first conceive
  then perceive


— 1165 —

Taking Notes

Perceptions note
  the world—
We consult
  these notes,
not the world—
  Itself


— 1166 —

Ransom

Sex kidnaps attention
  for ransom
demanding payment
  in semen


— 1167 —

AnapanaZazen Magic

Just breathe/Just be
  pure thought-free air
—Every particle
—Every instance

(So simple, so hard)


— 1168 —

Ego D(ist)ress

I am weaving
  weaving
  weaving
thought-strand
  woof and warp
the thickest coat


— 1169 —

Reverse Engineering

Pulling Asavas up
  by their roots
in essence means
  undeciding them


— 1170 —

Silence

So still that
  the only sound
is air molecules
  finding my
nostrils


— 1171 —

The Still Light

I will still
  all coats away
Silence every
  chain gone
set free the light


— 1172 —

Discernment

The clearest
  truest way
to discern
  is to be—
to experience


— 1173 —

Repute

I wonder what
  kind of reputation
our Earth holds
  with the Cosmos


— 1174 —

Easing

Easing means
  relaxing
  stilling
Easing means
  leaving be
  letting go


— 1175 —

Grand Relations

The relationship
  between
grandparent
  and grandchild
is always grand


— 1176 —

Sloughing

In Zazen I see
  the body
as just another
  mind-skin
to shed


— 1177 —

Father and Son

He was too
  self-occupied
  to care
I was too ditto
  to notice


— 1178 —

Expedition

Gathering the
  Attention Tribe
Heading for
  Darkness
Spreading some
  Light


— 1179 —

Ego Sword

To still
  the internal
  landscape
You must let
  Ego fall
on its sword


— 1180 —

Too Many Books

Information
  overload—
and shedding
  excess data
my new Path


— 1181 —

Anapanasati

The simplicity
  of air in—air out
Its true
  very saving
grace


— 1182 —

Fading

The past and future
  mosaic
known as the Self
  fades in the present


— 1183 —

Euphemism

Sex is a kind
  euphemism
for temporary
  insanity


— 1184 —

Geese

This morning—
  thousands
and thousands
  of Canada Geese
V’ing my skies


— 1185 —

Retort

We know
  where you live
he said
That’s okay
  I said
I know how
  to kill


— 1186 —

Morse

Sounds to me
  like the fog horn
says something
  very boring
in slow Morse


— 1187 —

Airing (verb)

To air (verb)
  air (noun)
means creating
  the air that
I perceive
  to be


— 1188 —

Beyond

Beyond language—
  its constricting
dictionaries and
  definitions

Beyond concepts—
  their constricting
assumptions
  judgments
and opinions

Beyond me/mine—
  its constricting
separateness
  pseudo loneliness

Beyond stillness—
  this softly
  constricting
word beyond
  past and
  future


— 1189 —

Identity

The constantly
  assembled
mystical mosaic
  known as
  The Self


— 1190 —

Conundrum

The past
  is gone
The future
  not come
The present
  unpinpointable


— 1191 —

Peeing a Lot

Seeing too many
  men about horses
Too much prostate
  too much tea


— 1192 —

Parallels

Images are
  to the Spirit
what eyes
  and ears
are to
  the Body

Emotions are
  to the Spirit
what flesh
  and bones
are to
  the Body

Desires are
  to the Spirit
what air
  and blood
are to
  the Body

Freedom is
  to the Spirit
what six feet
  under is
to the Body


— 1193 —

Aphorisms

As a rule, most
aphorisms
  are shortened
aforementionedisms


— 1194 —

Insanity

What finds a
  naked body
  beautiful?
Planet-wide
  insanity


— 1195 —

Discernment

How do you tell
  the genuine from
  the perfect fake?
You simply know


— 1196 —

Existential Mystery

The answer to
  this mystery:
there is
  no mystery—
never was


— 1197 —

Four Truths

Four often forgotten
  or ignored truths:

—We all live
  on borrowed time

—Human bodies
  never last

—Our ego
  will expire

—All identities
  are lies


— 1198 —

Thoughts

Thoughts rise
  as skeletal scenes
that we
  flesh out
  color
and bring to life


— 1199 —


Saints

Every now and then
  here and there
planetary ignorance
  springs leaks

— 1200 —


Attention

Breathing
  I hone my
  attention
sharp enough
  to dissect
  molecules

Sitting
  I hone my
  attention
well enough
  to cut through
  Samsara


— End —