When I Was Young

When I was young

and it was snowing as if you could hear wolves howling,

I used to walk deep into the forest,

under great white pines,

following deer and rabbit tracks until they disappeared,

or until I found, under the thickest branches,

what was almost a small dry cave or cavern

with a floor of brown needles.

There, I’d sit down,

clasping my hands around my knees

to watch snow falling.

I taught myself, for hours,

to watch snow falling.

-from THE ZEN MASTER POEMS