Here are a few poems from the sequence 10,000 Bodhisattvas.

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A STOVETOP BODHISATTVA

aluminum-shiny, watery-

plump, it holds

its breath till it

shrieks for joy!

 

 

NEW-MOON BODHISATTVA

belly gonna grow

belly gonna go

 

 

MALL-RAT BODHISATTVA   

looks in mirror-windows,

sheets of chrome--

         parinirvana day sale!

         desire: 10% off!!

         attachment: everything must go!!!

laughs enough

to split a gut

 

 

BODHISATTVA IN THE LOST & FOUND DEPARTMENT

asks you

what the difference is

 

 

OLD CAT BODHISATTVA

knows she'll die soon.

lies on my belly.

purrs

 

 

EMPTY BUCKET BODHISATTVA

Lower it, fill it, dump

it out.

Feel it, name it, let

it go—desire.

 

 

STILL LIFE WITH BODHISATTVA

still

life

still

life

still

life

still

 

 

ROCKET-SCIENTIST BODHISATTVA

What goes,

must::

how hard is that?

 

 

PEACH BODHISATTVA

Do I dare to eat

myself?

 

 

DUST-MOTE BODHISATTVA

cosmos

 

 

COSMIC BODHISATTVA

dust

 

TAOIST BODHISATTVA

That which you call

“that”: it isn’t

that.

 

 

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