Sunday January 9
*
A glimpse
forth upon 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 the Yu chu
as it flows toward Salween Ngul chu
through the vast grassland it goes
Grass and sedge ebb and flow
beneath the wind before our sight
as the waves of the Yu chu below
where suddenly here and there
the seeded heads of cobresia move
in a rhythm unlike the rest
rustling where the gazelle and kyang wild ass
graze beneath the vast blue sky
Then to dark spaces of green
where flashing sparkling light
answers the flickering green light and dark
of the trees above
and bright rushing sound
echoes from great walls of rock
as it has for millenia
Above upon steep slopes
hidden in silent moist spaces
beside rivulets
beneath ancient tree trunks
a myraid of plant spirits
thousands of them here
in silent voices faintly heard
as intuition in the mind
to tell of the forces and elements
power of earth and heavens
they bring for those
who seek the relief of beings
Then beneath
the arching canopy
we hear the sound
of rain as it falls
from the trees above
stirring all about us
in its midst then the steady sound
of its fall upon the stone
Look beautiful one
there's a wooden roof there
just visible in the shadows
beneath it a chorten stupa
from it emanates the energy
of revered lama who once walked
upon this path so long ago
we rest for a time
in it's presence
then continue on
to the shrines in Temto
of Gelukpa lineage
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 winter 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
January 5
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.