Sunday August 7
*
A glimpse
forth near the top of the steep climb
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 the way from Sumdo
over high pass
where the sound of yak
and horse upon stony ground
is softened by the growing grass
To rise
4600 meters fifteen thousand feet
into the mountain sky
amid the grass tossed to and fro
moved about by the shifting wind
To descend
to where the Chaktreng chu
cuts deep into the rock
and swirls amid the shadows
of the great trees
whose roots twist over the ground
to draw nourishment
from among the crevices
and piles of sintered stone
Look beautiful one
high upon the ridge
its the town of Chaktreng
from whence came
Trijang Rinpoche
he who with Ling Rinpoche
was tutor to Dalai Lama Fourteenth
of the present time
For more than forty years
from land of Zodang Gonpori
to the plains of India
he aided and guided
the Tibetan faith
of Geluk lineage
as it went from the land of snows
to the lands beyond
around the world
He to leave his mortal existence
behind but little more
than two decades ago
to return again
to the mountains of Switzerland went he
the place different
the light the same
the mind began where it left off
as one page lifted
to reveal the next
All this not so wonderful
to my straining eyes
as your determined beauty
and swift uplifted grace
that endures with patient dignity
this that I see in you
beneath the open sky
on this afternoon
of our summer 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
August 1
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.