end of our silent retreat, monchique 23 april 2021
a poem inspired by the dharma talks during the week _______________________________________
"so you should view this fleeting world -- a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream...." the diamond sutra
even if a journey whose then is it the bubble's in the stream the stream's in the valley or highland roads' crisscrossing verdant hills beneath the shadow of massive clouds before vanishing in the distant sea
on which side of time do frogs leap into the temple pond at
the sound of footfalls in the evening
slow the unfolding of ripples beyond the reach of sight
whose journey to retrace their shimmers in the invisible realm
fading sound of the bell long exhale of the stream that alone silence continues to hear
