Pond of Bone Rituals

Haa... eh... Haa... eh...

Listen. A leaf touches

water. The pond notices.

Black water Silver sky Roots below us Stars inside Black water Silver

sky No beginning No goodbye

Something moves beneath the surface Something older than the name One thought

One breath One ripple Gone One thought One breath One ripple On

Pond for the bones Chip steam for the soul

Pond for the bones Chip steam for the soul The pond is

no smaller The pond is no smaller

Do not mistake the steam for the water.

Do not mistake the horizon for home.

The steam is beautiful because it leaves.

The pond is sacred because it stays.

Cherish the rising Serve the deep

Hold the fleeting Know the whole Never confuse the two Pond for

the bones Chip steam for the soul

Moorhen cries across the black The water knew the call Before it

was made The water knew The water knew

No hiding

No second run The surface breaks The circles spread The pond remembers

That it happened That it happened

Tell the truth Hold the weight

Serve the thing That outlives your name

Leave it whole Leave no smaller

What held you inside

The pond is no smaller

The pond is no smaller

Steam curls upward.

For one moment

You have not tasted it.

Nothing has happened yet.

Everything could.

That moment...

That is the pond.

The pond is not water

The pond is not place

The pond is the vessel

The pause

The space

What does the water hold?

Everything.

What does the water judge?

Nothing.

What does the water remember?

Everything.

Pond for the bones Chip steam for the soul Cherish what rises

Serve what remains Love what is passing Without giving it chains

The pond is no

smaller For the frog who returns The pond is no smaller

For the ripple that burns

Pond for the bones Chip steam for the soul The pond is

no smaller The pond is no smaller

Water Wood Iron Bone Steam

Breath Horizon Home Haa-ya Haa-ya A ripple reaches the edge.

The pond remembers that

it happened. ...hmmmm...