My inner eye and I
Pedal our meditation bicycle
To the temple
Of happenstance ad infinitum…
Stephen A. Rozwenc, an American expat poet who resides in Thailand, shares his poetry
Stephen A. Rozwenc is an American expat poet who resides in Thailand. He has published 6 collections of poetry. Four of his books are currently available on Amazon Books. In the last 12 years alone more than 300 of his poems have appeared in print journals and online venues in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. 20 of his haiku poems will shortly appear in a bilingual anthology published in China. This anthology will be distributed in 16 Asian countries. He has also published a collection of translations of famous Russian poets in collaboration with Victor Peppard, a Russian language, literature, and culture professor from the University of South Florida.
1
Things to do in Bangkok today
Floss
Greet every query
With lotus blossom optimism
Perform the swaying elephant dance
For the dead
The one
That stops weapons manufacturers
From starving more children
2
Dawn’s orange canaries trill
Greenish arpeggios
To the footless stump
A cherished beggar Buddha
Drags like a shriveled bedpost
Across the slimy sky train platform
One elegant pause raises
His dented tin cup
That sips
From the supreme non-dual state
Of purified oneness
Beyond all vision
Sentiment
Thought
Or phantom limb
Deceptive sensation
And offers the simplest answer
To each passing sufferer
3
This way and that
My inner eye and I
Pedal our meditation bicycle
To the temple
Of happenstance ad infinitum
Whiny motorbikes
Zoom by us like giant mosquitos
Buzzing chaos
We slowly approach the temple
Where we can listen
To thousands of years
Of dead Buddhist monks
Explain how tears are purposeful stars
Shed to replenish the universe.
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