Allan O'Marra's
Easter
Retreat


(Scroll down to view pictures and read poems.)


































just waiting
not waiting for
only waiting







meditator’s footsteps cross
dark against sunlight
on warm pine floor







robin’s chirrup, chirrup, chirreep
wind chime melodies in rustling trees
mouse scurries in zendo roof








fierce with beard
and brown robe
breathing:
resolutely in
resolutely out

the very breath of
the zendo



hiss and spit of dying candle
distant lone dog dark bark
room full of big mind











mirror mind
divine mind
reflecting nothing







raven’s high sky ratchet caw
geese squawk and slide
down nervous ravine
bed of beige leaves under
bare rib trees

spring in the north country







condemned, silent, encroaching pine
given quiet, final hug and sad, parting kiss
crow sweeps by with guttural complaint
jagged roar of chain saw
tumbling pine takes crashing swipe
at offending house
attempts to be walter’s widow-maker
(you can aim all you want but
sometimes aim doesn’t count)
tree lands ignominiously, awkwardly prone and is
quickly dismembered and carted away

even trees fight change







bare attention:
like a hunter
sitting by a trail
expecting a deer
content no deer
will ever come








o
robin
songbird of zazen
your song is ever the same
your song is never the same



late night magic in the zendo
candles and incense
the stillness of no anticipation











sharp crack of hand clap

flight into
non-dual ecstasy

flying still








talk to yourself
using terms of endearment
say:
“I forgive you, sweetheart.”







chorus of twilight frogs
(woven through the fabric of my life)
backdrop now to
larger meanings, deeper resonances







meeting buddhamind
no turning back



-------------

Dedicated to
The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha

And to
Brent, Chris, Dave, Lindsay, Mara, Moira,
Sarah, Susan L., Sue M. & Walter

Allan O’Marra
April 2003



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