Koans to a Young Cowboi, by Mukethe Kawinzi

Prose, prose poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

How is a cowboy like a buddha? In Koans to a Young Cowboi, Mukethe Kawinzi shepherds the koan into the space of the farm, recontexualizing the relationship between zen master and student to mirror how a tenderfooted young cowgirl learns up to be a rancher. Here, koans—succinct Buddhist tales that offer puzzling insight into the nature of enlightenment—are a means of exploring mentorship, land doctoring, and good, honest husbandry.

Nestled in a world of cows and stockdogs, horses and sheep, the cowgirl in Koans to a Young Cowboi is a disciple seeking to understand death, pain, and revelations told by soil, grass, and sky. Under the tutelage of an unnamed old rancher, her endless questions are invariably responded to with an ambiguity that makes clear: the sacred path of education—learning to ranch, learning to cowboy, learning at all—is an asymptote that never truly reaches nirvana.

The work also posits famed livestock handlers Bud Williams and Whit Hibbard as saints; masters of cowboying whose teachings linger for those committed to raising animals with humanity and care. These koans—at once both playful and pastoral—capture the generosity of knowledge of elder cattlemen, their meditative answers to a hungry apprentice, and the unexpected humor and mystifying wonder of a life lived on the range. Give up ego for the expansive and ever-shifting truths of the natural world, forgo the concrete for contemplation, and you may just find yourself inching toward enlightenment.

In nine short parables accompanied by black and white photos by the author, Koans to a Young Cowboi sketches the contemporary American West as a verdant expanse of serenity in which stewarding land and animals is as baffling, comical, and enigmatic a study as Zen Buddhism.

Mukethe Kawinzi (www.mukethekawinzi.com) is a shepherd who has appeared in Obsidian, HOBART, and Kitchen Table Quarterly. She has farmed in sustainable and organic agriculture for five years, with a focus on artisanal cheesemaking, non-violent livestock handling, and regenerative grazing. She is the author of saanens, nubians, one lamancha (Winner, Quarterly West Chapbook Contest), rut (Ghost City Press), and touching grass (Porkbelly Press). She herds goats on the open range in coastal California.