This may be the best opening line ever. Not only is it memorable, it sums up the entire koan of step-parenthood, with Zen-worthy genius. Jōshū could have done no better. The fact that Beverly Rollwagen chose to open with the solution and then elaborate is further proof of her enlightenment.
How to Become a Stepmother, by Beverly Rollwagen, is the definitive guide to a delicate undertaking, in six brief quatrains.
Out of respect for the author's copyright I've linked to the full text on Garrison Keillor's site, rather than copying and pasting it here. Not only has my brother Garrison permission to post, but you can hear him read the poem aloud if you click on the audio link above the title. I heartily recommend it; Keillor is as good at reading poetry as Rollwagen is at writing it.
(On a purely frivolous note: if Zen had come to the West a thousand years ago, so that monks here took names in our own languages rather than Asian ones, Rollwagen could easily have been one of them. Check out this speculative Wikipædia entry from that parallel universe: "Road Across the Moors is a collection of koans from the fourteenth century, popularly attributed to Zen hermit Rollwagen of the Yorkshire lineage.")
An auspicious Mother's Day to Avalokiteshvara in all her disguises.
Deep bow.
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