Bodhisattvas Contemplate

for Tom and Gisela

Existence is suffering: Do we only escape this
cycle of birth and death in cessation of suffering?

Oh, the souls!
lost along the way
irretrievable, suffering,
life made of pain

Oh, the aspiration!
to stay with here
not rise above until
we all go together

Oh, the emptiness!
the reaching out
the grasping
fingers close upon themselves

Oh, the web of deception!
that ties together
every news event
every commentary

Oh, the greed!
the self-interest
that takes away
only to add unto itself

Oh, the insanity!
the untold terror
of our visions heading
down the drain of consciousness

Oh, the bliss of pain!
exquisite familiar touch
reuniting us with the
essence of existence

Oh, the idiocy!
the stupid statements made
the ridicule you heap up
and wallow in

At the bottom of a well
how do you do when they ask you
except to say OK on your way
to the unthinkable?

Does it get easier
with practice or
is it the same old
same old over and over?

Can we go it alone
or are we expected
to wait politely
holding the door?

How can you help them
who cannot even
themselves? I ask you
how can you help it?

Sentient beings
just short of enlightenment
choke the corridors of our
waiting rooms and morgues

Should we wait for them?
or jump off the bus, promising
to catch up with them
when they reach the inevitable?

Emptiness is form is emptiness is
gone gone gone beyond
gone altogether begone
Oh, what an awakening!

Oh, the lost souls!