Leave your phone on the table, come sit with me, 
I promise it will only take a minute. 

We can set a timer. 

No, not on your phone. 

Here is one shaped like a tomato, a bit of whimsy, 
bear with me while it ticks away the seconds, 
for seconds are all it will take 
to wake your monkey mind.

What? Yes! The one we worked so hard to quiet 
in the days of sitting zazen, spines rising 
like tall stems from the soft round zafu. 
We swore that empty empty empty was the way, 
but perhaps it wasn’t so, 
or wasn’t quite.

Listen! 

I know you hear it: the hiss of cymbals, 
the clang of the tin cup against the bars of 
algorithm illusion, the coming cacophony,  
be patient now, the waking is the hardest part. 

Your hand twitches. It reaches. 

But stay with me for a moment longer,
hear the song of your shadow in the 
clamor of a daemon caged. 

So familiar! 

The monkey leaps against the darkened door  
of one more room you fear to enter, and look! 
There you are, waving to us from the other side. 

For this to pass, you must pass through,
do you understand?

Let the monkey have its moment.
Trust what’s coming: 
the swaying tails of elephants, 
the carnival leaving town, 
all the monkeys free and spent now, 
asleep at last on your favorite chair.

Leave your phone on the table. 
Let’s go look at the stars.