Bob Lucky

The Armchair Daoist’s Manifesto #1

If there’s no self, what’s reincarnated? Why do good to save one’s self from returning as a dung beetle, which apparently navigates by the stars? Dung beetle or porn star, what’s the difference – unless one is trapped in the distinction? The recycling model appeals to me. Bad liver, sluggish heart, perverted mind, heart of gold, clear conscious, unblemished soul – it all goes back into the Dao, that compost heap that cannot be named. Do nothing, which is not the same as not doing anything.

power outage the corkscrew knows the way

Reprinted from Modern Haiku 44.3, 2013.