Sunday November 28
*
A glimpse
forth on the way up to 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 stones in heaps upon the ground
of the hill of Katok Dorjeden
and of the way
to where patient hands
clean off the mortar
crumbling with the centuries
from each one
then haul them
upon the steep hillside
to reverently place them
one atop the other
they not to be cast aside
for the newly hewn
for they are sacred
For they formed the Dukhang assembly hall
hundreds of years to be imbued
with the essence of the prayers
said for all beings
by those who once stood
within from the mountain wind
where the glow of butter candles
cast flickering lights upon the walls
where the sound of pages
raised from their bindings of wood
hundreds at a time
rustling in quiet unison
the walls stand again
plain and stark
but filled with sacred power
Then to fantastic ornate place
resplendent in handworked finery
where the force that worked
through reverent hands
here can be seen as surely
as at the Dukhang can be felt
Look beautiful one
there are Tangkhas here
their ends lifting up upon the wind
painting shadows upon the walls
of the courtyard
upon them two benevolent figures smile
Katokpa Dampa Deshek
he who founded this place
the hill of Katok
and Longsal Nyingpo
who worked to quietly restore
it again when the ravages
of time and circumstance
wore upon it's frame
now it remains still
in all it's splendor
both felt and seen
a monument to the peaceful life
in a turmoil and pain filled world
The sound that enters here
the flurry of activity
as brilliant as the flickering lights
of leaves in fall colors
upon a gleaming lake
it the glorious pageantry
of the sacred dances here
surely the dakini sky dancers
grace this place
in their realm of light
when the robes sway
and the masks bob
with their giant painted visages
to the rhythum of the sacred drum
and the trumpet of the conch
brought from the lands below
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 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
November 23
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.
reference material for the poem is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje.