Sunday February 1
*
A glimpse up
on the steep climb
to the leading light of my long day
slight gentle beautiful determined bright one
firmly alone firmly herself
to quietly remind me
that not so far away
for we two
our warm and bright
future day
and to her then to say
to tell of the quiet struggle
with wood and twine
to bring to being a humble loom
fashioned as those that wove
through the millennia of human existence
the raiment for the icy mountains
and glowing temple tapestry
as those which hung in the monastery of Samding
on the day the Dzungar envoy made his way
to the throne of Samding Dorje Phagmo
she the noblest woman incarnation
in all the land of snows
slight and gentle
with eyes that sparkled
from depths of compassion
they on that day were troubled
For the Manchu emperor from China
had intervened to aid the Quosot Lhazang Qan
in the taking
of seventh Dalai Lama from the Potala
and the life of his regent
Then came the Mongol Dzungar forces
to reverse this state of things
this they did but as
such armies often do
beginning in destruction they
continued such things
to thus terrorize the countryside
for the powerful so often inflict
their conflict on those
for whom the outcome
has no significance
they who struggle for existence
and they whose souls long
abandoned such foolishness
And it was this army whose envoy
forced his way
into Samding that day
but she
wasn't there
Her polite quiet reply
delivered to him
perhaps another time
This to be repeated again
and yet again until the chieftain
himself in his rage
stormed into the hall
where the assembly were seated
and there at the tables head
sat a figure in resplendence
with greed his eyes rose
then stopped in horrified
astonishment to look
upon an enormous sow’s head
and stumble in terror from the hall
never to return again
Silence there was for a time
as the sound of spurs, armor and curses
faded down the rocky path
and the birds
in the monastery garden
broke the stillness
as those eyes filled with gentle beauty
unchanged within that hideous guise
twinkled with amusement
and with a burst of laughter
she returned to human form
she had saved them all
the great shaman
abbess of Samding
Samding monastery stands to this day
a wonder in this world still remaining
above the lake of Yamdrok Yutso
lake of many legends
the heart of Tibet
the source of it’s strength
to maintain the fragile existence of living things
in this land so stark and wonderful
even in the presence of harm
in terrible modern times
Look beautiful one
how it stretches out
beneath we two
in our yakskin coracle
with great turquoise pincers across the land
glittering beneath the sky
with it’s nine islands
beneath Donang Sangwari
with its snowy heights of mystery
and sacred caves of long renown
Even still gentle one
All this not this 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
on this cold and
wintry morn
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
January 29
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.