Mu-mon-kan

I don’t want to sleep.

OK…that’s not entirely true.  At 5 AM, I wish I could sleep, but my mind’s too active and, seemingly, uncontrollable: I think about shows, past/current relationships (intimate and platonic), work, mistakes, random scenarios (real and imagined), etc, etc, ad infinitum…

Maybe “life’s too complicated,” “I make life complicated,” or some other unoriginal thought.  I want the reality of an Iron & Wine song:

One more drink tonight as your gray stallion rests
Where he lays in the reins
For all of the speed and the strength he gave

One more kiss tonight from some tall stable girl
She’s like grace from the earth
When you’re all tuckered out and tame

One more tired thing the gray moon on the rise
When your want from the day
Makes you to curse in your sleep at night

One more gift to bring we may well find you laid
Like your steed in his reins
Tangled too tight and too long to fight

The warmth of Sam Bean’s voice and the beautiful simplicity of his lyrics entices me into an idyllic life of horses and stable girls.

Realistically, I need to be able to afford the stable, horses, and tall, female employees.  Besides, could I really leave the comfort, the connectivity, and the knowledge behind?  I don’t require much, though I think I need more.  Love, food, and horses might be all that’s needed.

…and sleep.

A philosopher asked the Buddha: “Can you tell me the truth without word and without wordlessness?” The Buddha answered with silence. The philosopher thanked him for his loving kindness, thanks to which he had entered the Tao. After he left, Ananda asked what he had learned. “A good horse runs even when seeing only the shadow of the whip.”

~ Zen Flesh, Zen Bones