(Poem) When the bodhisattva wept by Donna Snyder

Paubha painting showing Vishnu Mandala (15th century). Jayateja, Public domain

O Lotus that blooms from a tear of compassion

fill the air with your intoxicating scent

Remind us that anywhere there is concern or sympathy for others clearwater blooms

When the bodhisattva saw the suffering of humanity

a tear formed a lake of pure water

From the clear fresh water grew a single Lotus

From that Lotus stepped the compassion goddess

O dear one, enlightened one

accompany me on this last journey of mine for I am scared

Outside my window the desert lies beneath a sun

killing those who suffer the weight of all civilization on their back

The air here is poisoned with toxins

The water is itself a miracle each time it appears falling over my fingers

Yet is refuse recycled from the filth made by people just for the fact that they are human

I sit in a concrete shower

a stranger’s hand between my legs to remove the stink of my existence

and that hand is the hand of Tara

come to make my transition from flesh to ash peaceful and without pain

For that gift O enlightened one

you who saw the tears of the world and flew down to bring us beauty

I thank you

For each indignity I suffer let me see it as a gift

a signpost on my way to the other side

And let holiness lead me a craven and flawed creature

the least of all these toiling and struggling souls

Let me find peace in the unknowing

Because a tear from the eye of a holy one baptizes me and protects me from all


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