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This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
Don't talk
Don't laugh
Don't cry The things you are
Not supposed to do
In Aikido practice -
But so difficult sometimes
My kohai asks a question
My kohai does something
Dangerous -- repeatedly!
Sometimes a word or two
Can prevent injury
Or save so much time! No, move there....
Yes, extend here....
No, don't do that -- ever!
Or, when entering stage four -- Liveliness -- of Chiba Sensei's
Five Pillars of natural progression
In the art, the pure pleasure
And joy experienced
Can be so strong sometimes
Spontaneous laughter can burst forth
All on its own accord!
(At least for me)
That leaves the last one: Don't cry...
Well, I gotta admit
This one is seems so easy
I've never seen anyone cry
On the mat...
Though I did hear Chiba Sensei
Once ask someone he was pinning
If he was crying....and he didn't
Seem too pleased by the possibility No cry. No cry, he said, walking away
Still, all-in-all, all three admonitions
Seem like good advice
However, on the mat, it is sometimes
So hard not to talk or laugh
Crying though, well, I definitely
Try not to do that!
04-27-2014 03:59 PM 
