The Persistence of Diligence

by Zen Master Jok Um

-- For Chogye’s 50th +1

How many
Times have how many
Knees pounded
The floor
For what?

How many
Times have how many
Feet circled
The room
For what?

How many pounds
Of flesh have weighed
Down these old
Wooden slats?

Don’t
You think we must
Know what
We’re doing or
We would’ve stopped
By now
?