the way of the samurai

The sapling oak in single stroke falls to the sword The conquistadore's pride on the rising tide goes down with his hoard (from the captain's door the gold coins pour in sparkling showers, falling to the white sand floor to lie like flowers)

The same force that does these deeds gives the gods their powers The same force feeds the seeds atop their green towers.

Like lightning striking, fast and hard from an empty sky or the crack of a whip, ricochet quick, that kills a fly, he slipped he fell over a cliff thinking his days were done when he caught with his teeth the branch of a tree

above an abyss he hung The monk who had chased him spied the thief's plight. He went to help him, when he stopped and stepping back from the brink he said to the thief: "What is Zen"?

The thief's response was a soundless, boundless cry. Affirming a life can mean knowing the need to die.