Earth & Wood
Proverb
You can’t find ivory in a dog’s mouth.
Poem
The mulberry is up on the mountain
The lotuses are in the marsh
I cannot see my lord
Only this mad man.
The pine grows high on the mountain
Flowers grow on marshy water
I cannot see my lord
Only a crafty boy.
Meditation
What is real?
The poem contrasts aspects of reality –
bushes and trees on mountans, lotus in the marsh –
with the vacuousness of the man.
Can you tell what is real,
or are you looking for ivory in a dog’s mouth?
©Loes Raaphorst 10/2005