[Buddha-l] Spring --2 dharma poems

[jkirk]

At the risk of falling flat on my face--oh well, it's only a
face........ Joanna
 
Karma                 

Flowing along  
Murmuring its silent song
Surmounting and crushing
Threading winding paths
Choked with reeds
Crashing down cliffs
Reaching level  
Dissolving into reflections .... 
Now, look! 
See your mind 
In the lake
That spreads toward horizons unseen .... 
Is the mirror clear?        

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Temple banner from Chiang Mai

It's a fine white narrow plastic thing.
White lace in the middle 
With gold borders, 
Dotted with plastic 
Blossoms, white and yellow.
A strip, divided 
Into equal segments 
Like gold metal banners
Hanging from temple crests-
Segments hinged, 
So they cascade peacefully.

I saw it flying high in Chiang Mai
(Some rhymes irresistible as the wind.) 
Chinese stores sell them, 
So I was told by Thais.
Mine hangs on the screen porch 
Here in Idaho.
It used to fall during high winds.
Using a twisty on a nail 
I fixed it above the top three circles-
Buddha red
Dharma and Sangha blue.
Now it undulates in high wind
A lacy dragon beckoning
I can only see it through a front window
When the wind blows.

Does its metal mimesis remind us 
To follow the Great Example?