Zen Buddhism and Martial Arts
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Author of this poem:
Robert Rhodes (Yao Xin)
(December 3, 2004)
Easterly
Tears --
or perhaps rain --
in the manner of
falling pipal leaves,
drop in the lap
of a Cambodian shrine,
a tribute to
ceaseless
forestbound
karma,
to starlike resilience.
A cool wind,
easterly,
bends and parts
the waist-high grass --
there, a slate-cobbled
path,
nearly dissolved
by rising and receding
waters: like
a river emboldened
by opaque rain.
Tears --
or no: rain --
in the manner of
falling pipal leaves
drop in the stone lap
of a shrine devoted
to a dream
once or twice abandoned,
but rendered, Subhuti,
no less dreamlike --
such dreams survive
like hunger
here --
like memories,
revelations,
like camouflaged snakes
thick as tree roots --
like breath itself.
