A Poem and an Anniversary

December 15 is the 40th anniversary of Katagiri Roshi’s 1972 arrival in Minnesota, along with his wife Tomoe and their two sons. He lived and taught here for eighteen years until his death in 1990. Teijo Munnich sent this poem that Katagiri Roshi wrote on March 13, 1989, soon after learning that he had cancer:
          The sage is life,
          The stone is alive
          and walking with you;
          Mountains, rivers, pebbles, trees, flowers,
          All are walking with you.
          At that time everyday life
          walks with you side by side.