I bring up this image
Just so the line of Buddhas
Can remind me of compassion
And the vibrant colours
Embolden my will for passion
I sit
Then breathe
To quiet mind
Of learnings misbegotten
This land once rose
And then it fell
By men of mind besotten
We’ve gone as fast
As sound and cheetahs
Slowed down time
To see a bullet
Sped it up
To watch grass grow
I miss
The tingling
Resonance
Of your touch
Gather here in peace
Quieting your mind
Listen for my voice
The wisdom of the ancients
I re-encountered Buddha
Long obscured for me
Made strange by the confines
Of my culture familiar
The interplay
Of force
And resistance
What is peace?
Awakening
Filled with hubris
And righteousness
And anger
And cleverness
And vitriol
Was I too
Then I encountered Buddha
And the Dao, too
Like the sun, shrouded
Seeking the balcony
Like the little Buddha
An outline in the shadows