Avian Mishegoss
Before dawn, sitting in the dark, all the zendo windows are open and the air moves gently, a perfect temperature for me in a Golden State Warriors t-shirt, breezes dry and savory with the smells of crisping wildflowers and high mountain grasses.
As if on cue, a hundred crows, jays, woodpeckers and dozens of other Rocky Mountain birds I cannot name erupt in utter avian mishegoss, scratching at the trees, bickering, pecking at the walls and the roof, singing sweetly and cawing as if they were being pursued by the foxes, a top-of-trees song system, relaying news of the day. “Cuomo is still hanging on! Pathetic!”
I am sure I hear at least one lucid koan presentation: “Screech!”
The bell rings anyway.
Then as quickly as they began, it’s quiet.
Their job of raising the sun is complete.
-Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe
昭雲
August 4, 2021
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