Sunday September 5
*
A glimpse
up toward the span
to the leading light of my long day
slight gentle beautiful determined bright one
patiently making her way
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 rumble of trucks
over a dusty lane
the shouts of Chinese soldiers
the hiss as tons of wheat
pour from a door
in a wall hastily built to need
but months ago
Insult to the silence this
and yet a saving grace
for the places the invaders take
for granaries and latrines escape
the dull concussing thud
the echoing tearing roar
of irrevocable destruction
that falls upon sacred wonder
leaving but memory
formless energy
sacred among the ruins
The wheat serves not Tibetan need
it’s harvest is the way of fools
for barley best grows here
like rest of imposed system
it serves not to sustain
and in its wake the famine stalks
upon the Kandze plain
Until the Tibetan way
is restored once more
the wisdom of millenia
returned to take it’s place
as cigarette butts grind into ashtrays
in party halls in grimy soot filled Beijing
and stony faces then decide
this plan was not
for the highest place on earth
such an practical thing
Beneath the musty tons
buried from the reverent gaze
the form of deity stands
lost to a generation
Where once butter lamps glowed
flickering across visage
awesome in countenance
rats scurry across wooden floor
fighting amongst dust and moldy kernels
lost from torn cloth sacks
until the day
the last truck drove away
to leave this place behind
worn and battered from boot and tire
and the carelessly slung weight
the air still hung with smoke and curse
until the Tibetans returned
in love and reverence
to the temple of Den Gonpa
Look beautiful one
it’s Mahakala
to Tibetans so revered he leaps into
the sacred life with aspects personalities
seventy five in all
and Panjaranatha Gonpo Gur is the form
he chose to reside in this temple here
when to this place he was invoked
by Drogon Chogyel Phakpa
who traveled on his mission of peace
to the homeland of Mongol conquerors
seven centuries ago
and outside the path
reverberates with sound
of prayer wheels as they turn
and woodblocks that long ago were carved
return dignity to this place
as the energy of their sacred text
emanates into the space
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your gentle serious smile
as beautiful as the rainbow
on a stormy day
with determined beauty
and uplifted gentle dignity
that endures with patient grace
this that I see in you
beneath the open sky
on this morn
of our summer of working and waiting
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
September 3
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.