Dream Fish
Three Treasures Sangha of the Pacific Northwest

In the Diamond Sangha Tradition


Ryōkan (1758-1831)

Done with a long day's begging,
I head home, close the wicker door,
in the stove burn branches with the leaves still on them,
quietly reading Cold Mountain poems.
West wind blasts the night rain,
gust on gust drenching the thatch.
Now and then I stick out my legs, lie down --
what's there to think about, what's the worry?


In Foster and Shoemaker, The Roaring Stream (Ecco Press, 1996)