Staring at Buddha - Jan. 14, 2024

in a corner of the fall garden

under the pomegranate tree

Buddha reclines in close-eyed

bliss   covered in yellow leaves

applied to the world of pomegranates

or ours of intolerance  injustice  

cruelty  war  starvation  death

that look’s lesson never changes

evenness in all things

and as the leaves turn gold

in the late afternoon sun

and a breeze has moved

a few off his face

I see more clearly

he's looking at

a different world