Thai Islands

Look through me;
What do you see?
Sea anemones,
Gobies and whale sharks,
Golden seahorse among the corals,
Shining nudibranchs,
Stingray in the sand,
Moray eel in its coral cave,
The stealth and strike of the scorpionfish,
Yellow mask angelfish,
The manta ray’s imperious glide.

This life is play, and dignity,
Laughing faces of the now-reborn,
The subtle and the indirect.
Thus speaks a monkey in a cage,
A shadow-puppet.

Bone to bone, muscle to muscle,
Breath to breath, the masseur
Racks and wrings me on the anvil,
Till the nerve-ends flower
And meridians sing,
And the waves turn to incense.

I write your body in Pali,
Suttas of flesh, muscle and bone,
Anointed your bhikkhu,
The new moon’s servant.
Why, even in the midst of desire,
Do I yearn for the extinction of all desire ?
Take this as another offering
Of lotusbuds, incense and candles.

Dance on the beach,
Crying : I am the Emerald Buddha !
Execute your old life, like a king deposed,
Beating it to death in a velvet sack
So that not a drop of blood touches the ground.
Clownfish, angelfish, butterflyfish,
I am any fish I choose to be,
Grazing the word-reef.
I am a hawksbill turtle
Under the waves’ Thai script.