Erasure from the Zhuangzi translated by Thomas Merton
out a hand
down a foot
a knee
like a dance what
is Tao?
when I first began
I would see me
all in one mass
after three years I saw
but now I see
with the eye free to work
space finds its own way
I cut no joint chop no bone
a year I have used this
it has cut
its edge
keen
when this finds space
there is all the room
I feel slow down watch
hold back move
and whump the part falls away
like a clod of earth
then I the blade
stand still
clean and put it away
First published in The Authorised Theft Papers, the proceedings of the 21st Conference of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs.
From A coat of ashes
Jackson 