I Hate Incense

by Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun)

English version by John Stevens
Original Language Japanese

A master's handiwork cannot be measured
But still priests wag their tongues explaining the "Way" and babbling about "Zen."
This old monk has never cared for false piety
And my nose wrinkles at the dark smell of incense before the Buddha.

-- from Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu, Translated by John Stevens

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I Hate Incense