I and I

In the quiet garden

raked lines circle nothing—

yet nothing holds them all.

A koi turns beneath the surface,

ripples becoming sky,

sky becoming water.

The monk watches—

then forgets

who is watching.

Stone, sand, and fin

move together

without agreement.

The pond reflects the moon,

the moon reflects the pond—

which one is real?

A breeze passes—

the garden shifts,

but nothing leaves.

You are not in the garden.

The garden is not outside you.

Like the koi

swimming through its own reflection—

the universe

turns within itself,

and calls it “I.”