The Calligrapher’s Brush (A Poem for Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche) by Jose Rodriguez, Jan 2016

The calligrapher’s brush
Held gently
in hand
Cradled by lovingkindess
fingers
and a steady mind.

{ Feeling. }

Now.

A golden dawn. The sun in your head.

Now.

The moon in planted firmly in your heart.

Leaving no trace but the imprint of a bird’s wing in the sky.

NOW.

A bud explodes
into star spangled glory
pledging no allegiance
but to the turning
of
the
wheel.

now…

…a horse’s tail turns
and dances lightly across the
pulp
-ed
rem
-nants
of SEVEN THOUSAND days.

Without a sound.

{ Being. }

¿Porque sonriè el dragòn?

Porque con la sabiduria de una vida profunda.
ya
sabè
no saber / no sè.
.

Now.

I young child cries in the only language she needs to know.

A bell rings.

A dog barks.

<< ¡Señora ama de casa
aquī viene gas El Lago! >>

A leaf
drops.

Pirouetting.

touches
this
good
earth
with a satisfying – ‘tak’

{ Touching. }

Without

even

trying

this leaf has attained

true
complete
enlightenment.

what the earth has witnessed
what
you
your
self
have experienced the calligrapher’s brush

in the branch of a tree
in the gaze of an ancestor blinded by age and poverty

in the sigh of a lover / in the trill of a songbird
in the car alarm at midnight / in the laugh of a child / in Don Alvaro’s rake

in the scent of cilantro
in the essence of compost

in the sour first time taste of a
fruit you cannot name

in the small of your back…
in the caress of a breeze on your bare cheek

in the ring of a gong
(gong)

in the echo of your mind… .. .

is
the calligrapher’s brush.

Translations of Spanish:

Why does the dragon smile?
Because with the wisdom of a profound life she knows “not knowing” / “don’t know.”
( In honor of Acharya Allyn Lyon. )

Lady of the house, here comes Gas (propane) del Lago.
( Often heard on the streets of Patzcuaro as the delivery truck drives around. )