Sunday April 17
*
A glimpse
forth toward the span
to the leading light of my long day
slight gentle beautiful determined bright one
patiently making her way
she firmly alone firmly herself
to quietly remind me
that not so far away
for she I we two
our warm and bright future day
and to her then to say to tell
of Dazui island
upon the lake of Lugu tso
where the water gleams
beneath the mountain light
And herbs grow in the shade
among boulders long ago moved
by terrifying storms primeaval
And of the sound
of boots
scraping upon the shore
from over the vast field of ice
and that of
heavy sacks
let fall upon the stones
above the water
bleached in the moutain light
from a small tear
tsampa barley flour trickles down
A figure straightens
in garments torn and worn
face gaunt with austerity
and turns to his companion
to speak
in quiet conviction
Here we shall remain
until we have made
our offering
No mean offering this
for it was Gotsangpa
lineage holder of the Kagyu
Drukpa Dragon lineage
he of generosity
to the deities unsurpassed
diligent in practice as no other
and it was here
that they had come
to offer
one hundred thousand tsampah
tsok torma ritual cakes
to the radiant deities
But the barley flour had they
for themselves and tea from
the two great sacks
as painstakingly one by one
each they fashioned
and offered them upon
their altar humble
day after day
month after month
on and on
Season followed season
as the offering grew
and the sacks dwindled
until finally
one morning they
found one torn
it's contents thrust about
from the eager foraging
of a hungry being
What do we do now
surely there is not enough
left for us and offering too
the companion asked
Gotsangpa to nod quietly
fingers fumbling in the cold
and took the tsampah
from his bowl
formed it in his fingers
and put it on the altar
to say
they will take care of us
So on they went
they themselves to survive
on but the herbs
that grew among the stones
beneath the first flurries
of winter
until the last of the hundred thousand
had risen in the sacred fire
they to stumble to the shore
where the water lay
to look upon it's surface vast
so very far from land
and no ice yet formed
to carry them home
Let's go Gotsangpa said
and do not now look back
without a word
upon water then he stepped
as though upon a bridge
and over the water they went
as on the wind
to far distant shore
They to peer back
through the mist
no ice was there to be seen
but before their eyes
bridge of dazzling rainbow
stretched forth
from the joined hands
of a hundred thousand radiant
figures smiling beneath the sky
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and uplifted gentle dignity
that endures with patient grace
this that I see in you
beneath the open sky
on this afternoon
of our spring of working
and waiting
and weaving
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
April 12
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.