Patience

Pic by Tharindu Amunugama

Waiting is of many kinds

it is a platform vigil

for life-trains that may arrive

or have passed in eye-blink moment;

waiting is a lover’s tryst

a mendicant’s wish

and news made stale by night wind

and neglect;

waiting is a short text message

between life and life

a train that was missed

and a train going in the wrong direction,

waiting is an end game of hope

in hopeless longing

for the beloved

misnamed or mis-taken.

Please leave a comment

Mirror walks

Pic by Tharindu Amunugama

Mirrors are walls

they stop

they force reflection

and those who come

they stay, stare and turn around

as though glass was armed

with cut-glass prohibition;

they don’t invite,

don’t say ‘walk in’

don’t say ‘explore’

don’t say ehi-passiko

but this water-glass  landscape

of grass and grass-reverse

of branches that graze

or dip into water

and upturned hills,

like an embroidery-reverse

disarms;

we could drown in our mirror-waters

we could suffer cut-glass scrutiny:

there are no shortcuts to the other side. 

Please leave a comment

Bodhisatva Yield

Is it the Buddha that is drawn
from wood and learned-image,
the Gauthama of long ago
the prince turned mendicant
revered beyond veneration
or the name and notion
passed from century to century
in the gather and discard
of perception?

And is the yield
of buddhalambana joy
born of crafting skill
or the imperfection of seer?

Where lies Buddhatva,
in choice of subject
chiseling skill
the chisel, the wood
the eye or finger
the weight unleashed
the strength held back?

Is it a bird, an elephant
that is re-birthed
or just the artist
in bodhisatva yearning?

Please leave a comment