Best Meister Poems
Would you take a dollar?
No.
Okay. Thanks.
Would you take a fifty-cent piece?
No.
Okay. Thanks.
Would you take a quarter?
No.
Okay. Thanks.
The haggler has no idea how to haggle really, the
vendor thinks, not realizing she gets more things for
a dollar, a fifty cent piece and a quarter than anyone
else in the world.
The buyer leaves with her dollar intact.
There is another garage sale two houses down, right?
Would you take a dollar?
No.
Okay. Thanks.
Would you take a fifty-cent piece?
No.
Okay. Thanks.
Would you take a quarter?
Yes. Sure.
Thank you very much! I love it!
The cat was crazy, so we named him Craze Meister Threes.
He was irrational, a fire ball who took down Christmas Trees.
Why did you name him Three’s? My mother asked concerned.
It’s because he has three times three lives, we easily discerned.
Craze Meister Threes was a runaway tornado and storm.
He took no prisoners, and kept our feet cozy and warm.
We woke up sometimes with his harem of ladies in our bed.
We did not know if they had shots, or if they were betrothed or wed.
Can large white tom cats have more than one wife? I asked my vet.
He rolled his disgusted blue eyes; he thought I had a despicable pet.
Craze Meister Threes had bit his finger off, and it had turned pee brown.
He had never forgiven him, but there was only one vet in our town.
Take that monster to cat day care, my mother said, I will pay the way.
So we took Craze Meister Threes to Cat City that very next Wednesday.
He gets to go three times a week, and he loves it like his kitty crunch.
When he gets home he is so tired, all he can do is lie in a heap or a bunch.
(“Original Mind”, 2017, original encaustic mixed media)
The Buddha Within
People speak of the god within
Or the light within
But I like to see it as the buddha within
Buddha, as in awakened mind within.
This awakened mind in never separate
Or elsewhere from this moment,
This sense of self.
It’s just not of this self,
Not even the silent inner watcher.
What is it then? How can we know it?
More importantly how can we not know it,
And this absolute intimacy
Is why and how it goes unrecognized.
As for what it is, how can we say a thing
About what isn’t a thing?
We are left to write poems and simply dream
Confident that whatever inspires us
Is connected, inseparably, from the awakened.
Maybe this isn’t true for everyone,
But as Meister Eckhart said long ago,
“The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life: your memories, your attachments.
They burn them all away, but they're not punishing you, they're freeing your soul.
If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away.
If you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.”
(9/13/25)
Cuddle Meister built a special bed for princess Bea.
She sleeps differently than the likes of you and me.
Bea is a monarch, she was birthed from parents of royalty.
She will sleep well tonight said the Cuddle Meister. You will see.
She is the sue-meister of the neighborhood.
She has sued almost all of us.
We do not invite her to our neighborhood barbeques any more
Possibly for this reason
Or it could be because she is caustic and mean
It is a toss-up really.