The Buddha Speaks by Gu Cheng

Photo of Tian Tan Buddha taken by me in Hong Kong 2008

The Buddha Speaks

I am poor
I have no place to weep

my occupation s fixed
fixedly I sit
a thousand years
come wearing the richest of smiles
go subtly extending a hand
as if having given something to humanity

I don't know what I can give
and don't hope to gain
I just want to keep my tears
keep them till my work is done

deep green sandalwood turns to ash
parched red stars
are falling

by Gu Cheng (1956 - 1993)

The Path by Gu Cheng

Photo taken @ the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

Poem: The Path written by Gu Cheng from the book Nameless Flowers the selected poems of Gu Cheng. I will have more about Gu Cheng over the next few weeks.

The Path

you tell me
there is a path
serene and strange
overgrown with free grass

but we have never sought it
never walked it
because we are human
and quite common

the pigeon says:
it connects to a reed pond
the beetle says:
it leads into trees

but I believe
childhood's footprints are there
and etched brick headstones
and crickets' low chirping