Josie the Roshi

Josie the Roshi    
      
He opens, “We are a far piece from Japan.        
What brought you to open a Zendo here, Josie?”        
“Zen on the beach appealed to me.        
I am not a stoic Zen master”        
Josie the Roshi tells him,        
“These shoes turned up on the lost and found        
after our group tea ceremony.        
Often the tea ceremony performed        
by the geisha becomes so hypnotic        
that the man gets temporary amnesia.        
Humor an old lady and slip into these shoes.        
If they fit they are yours.”        
 “Those shoes fit me like a hand in a glove.”        
“Well, the truth is they waited        
a long time for the owner.        
They belonged to my late husband.        
You are my lover returned to be my groom.        
I hope you can put up with an old woman        
for your bride.”        
“Marriage with a roshi brings the Sacral Chakra        
into alignment regardless of her age. let’s get        
hitched barefoot on the beach.”        
She replies, “What if you lose your shoes again?”        
He says, “I’ll put them alongside yours.  
Between the two of us, we’ll find them.”  
She replies, “Those shoes have a lot of wear left.”
“A cobbler can resole them but souls can’t mend their ways.”
“You cough like the tuberculosis ward
from the common cold. Always have.”
“You fold shirts like the American flag.”
“Does that bother you?”
“The flag means something completely different
to the Puerto Rican cab driver in New York
than the alt right white nationalist.”
She replies, “You are to me like brown on wild rice.”