KOAN

Encaustic Wax Monotype - S. Auberle

Snow on the south side

is melting tonight

in brown patches

scattered among the white.

Smoke rises

from the neighbor's house

joining a cloud

drifting over the mountain

where snow still lies deep.

I imagine Ryokan,

the Zen monk,

two hundred years ago

in his solitary hut,

a fire made only of leaves

that blew to his door.

His brush shivers

across the precious paper:

Evening in the deep mountains

all covered in white snow;

I feel everything vanish,

yes, my soul and body too...

The snow is melting tonight

in brown patches

scattered among the white.

Smoke vanishes into a cloud.

Why should we lament our passing?

~mimi