Photography © Julianne Powers

 

Is a poem a koan?

a poem is a koan
a cone
a cohen

by me,
not a cohen

cone-shaped?
possibly

a koan—
like how certain say
run’ed
not
ru-ined

ice cream koan—
it’s run’ed!
this poem is run’ed!

it’s ice cream for de-‘nur
at the cohens
we’ll read pomes

d’nur is an arabic prince
from days of desert magick
dark arts and camelid tents

present or past
tents
loosen up
circus

free association
take one — it’s free
buy one | get one | free
two cones | one price
family of cohens,
family pricing
cone shaped?
certainly
will there be pomes?
a cone | a pome
the crones in Rome appear mainly in poems
Zen masters
appearing in verse
shaking their heads —

what do they think students think
when they ponder your koan?

deep-ish thoughts
like these

but you only like
the answer,
journeys of pupils
pollute your buds

koan | cohen | cone
gives you heartburn
ruined | run’ed | de’nur
invokes a stroke

who gives a shit
about a fam of
cone-eating cohens
getting a discount?

thoughts
pond’rous or not
mostly waste out the ears
and it’s a good thing, too
or we’d have no friends

certainly no Zen masters

 

Ethan Cunningham is a recluse. He also writes things. He also takes pictures of things. And sometimes he writes about those, too. Born in New York, educated in Pittsburgh and Boston, he now lives in Northern California with his wife and three cats. Also, he thinks his daughter is hilarious and that cats are awesome.

Julianne Powers is artist, poet, and writer from South Shore Massachusetts. Julianne has studied classical guitar and herbalism, and she enjoys photography, crafts, and gardening.