I Remember the Monastery

I remember the monastery
Crashing against the rocks
On that cool spring California night

White foam spraying
As we stared intensely
At the blank walls

No thinking
No seeing
No ing

As the flames rose
And our heads exploded
Blowing great holes through the shingled roof

And you were the tiger’s claw
Hidden behind the veil

And I was the burning cauldron
Casting stars into the endless night

(Note: This is a poem I wrote in 2005 reflecting on the memory of doing zazen at a monastery in Santa Cruz with my cousin Pamela.)