Questions

How many heartbeats pass before
something resonates deep within?

Why does reading about God leave me
with long lists of forgettable quotes?

Does the origin of the urge for perfection
come from some prior perfect place?

What difference does change or reform make
to the moss quietly growing beside the rock?

Ground Questions

What makes the fallen ash leaves curl
when they touch the hard ground?

Does looking down at the ground 
make the circling vulture dizzy?

How many nuts buried in the ground
will last the winter for a squirrel?

Will the ground remain solid beneath
my feet as I stand in uncertainty?

Questions

Which color best describes the way
a mourning dove cries in the morning?

How many days walking in the rain
before the last leaf falls to the wet ground?

At what time of day is it best to alter
the God that appears at the Altar?

How many differences are there between
the oppressed and their oppressors?

Learning and Liking

Learning to like questions is different
from learning questions.

Learning to like others is different
from liking others.

And if you learn to like questions,
then you can learn to like others.

birth

birth,
a forced exile
into the land
of asking,
why?

Time for Some More Questions

Why is there always enough space after dinner
and before bedtime to ask one more question?

What makes a two hour sail in the burning sun
too long for any questions to be asked?

How does my gaze fall upon the one book I have wanted 
for a so long stacked in the midst of questions?

And, as the Psalmist asks, "What profit is there 
in my blood, when I go down to the pit?"

And Questions

And where does the word 'and' appear
in your daily speech?

And how often does it end your sentences
knowing the endless horizon approaches?

And does it wrestle with the undoingness 
of 'but' hoping only to be spoken aloud?

And does it like to mix itself all up at times
with a few friends to go to the dance?

And...?

Demands

What is the chance for destruction 
     to follow the same path,
     by wind or by water or by fire,
     twisting, taking, turning,
     collecting possessions
     into its embrace?

Is the death of one child not enough
     or must the demands
     of the demons who cry, More,
     make offerings a daily ritual,
     to be met with trembling
     and with tears once again?

Hall of Questions

How do you find the light staring into
the hallway mirror at your twin?

Can intimate teaching be found in the midst
of farewell discourses in the entrance hall?

How many ask themselves walking down 
the hall, Will this time be different?

Where does the doorway outline shining
at the end of the hallway come from?