Roshi at 89

ROSHI AT 89

Roshi's very tired

he's lying on his bed

He's been living with the living

and dying with the dead

But now he wants another drink

(will wonders never cease?)

He's making war on war

and he's making war on peace

He's sitting in the throne-room

on his great Original Face

and he's making war on Nothing

that has something in its place

His stomach's very happy

the prunes are working well

There's no one going to Heaven

and there's no one left in Hell

- Leonard Cohen,
Mt. Baldy, California, 1996

Leonard Cohen
and Joshu Sasaki Roshi

(Title page of
Shambhala Sun Magazine,
September 1998)