Could I have been better
At this or at that
Had I offered more devotion
But of all the this
And all the that
Just two devotions have mattered
For pilgrims and believers
A gift to Ganga, river goddess
Holy of holies
Source and purifier
In Thailand
Malaysia
China
Japan
Though, not the laughing Buddha
The plump one
In the midst of
A rollicking guffaw
No, not that Buddha
Rather, the somber, reflective one
The one it seems
The weight of the world
Rests lightly
On his androgynous shoulders
I recognize
The limits
Set by context
Which, I’ve learned
Confines me
Not reality
I flow through the world
And experience
Places
Moments
History
Present
I connect with people
And experience
Variance
Possibility
Convergence
Dichotomy
It’s these places
Where we are most
Who we are
But it will be watched
On small screens
Live
Recorded
Streamed
And shared
A million times over
Perhaps, that is a better thing
Where there are no maps
I keep faith
I’ll find my way
Where there are no roads
I keep faith
I can forge my own
From the daughter
Roiling and playful
Down the narrow valleys
To the gentle, fertile
Fulsome matriarch
Mother of the plains
Blue on blue
On blue on blue
Morning sun
Peeks on through
The clouds on high
The smoke below
But in my heart
The golden band
Offsets the black
Below the blue
This light which cuts
And penetrates
Ennobles sky
With amber hues
A crown upon
These broody blues
I rise into
New light of day
Pix to Words 