Wolverine approached Raven after a meeting had broken up and said, “I’ve composed a poem about my practice. Do you want to hear it?” Raven said, “No.” Wolverine said, “I’m going to recite it anyway.” Raven gave a croak and flew up into the Assembly Oak. Next day, Mole told Porcupine about this, and said, “I thought Roshi was pretty rude to Wolverine. Why did he make such a point of not wanting to hear his poem?” Porcupine said, “He already knew it by heart.”
Robert Aitken, “The Poem,” in Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In