miracle of each moment

"any moment, preparing this meal,
we could be gas thirty thousand
feet in the air soon
to fall out poisonous on leaf,
frond and fur. everything
in sight would cease.

and still we cook,
putting a thousand cherished
dreams on the table,
to nourish and reassure those
near and dear.

in this act of cooking
i bid farewell
always i insisted you alone were to blame.
this last instant my eyes open
and i regard you
with all the tenderness and forgiveness
i withheld for so long..."

poem by: ed espe brown (he wrote this when there was impending threat of nuclear war)
from: "the tassajara recipe book"













one-stroke zen circle titled: "miracle of each moment"
by: kaz tanahashi