XV-XVII

XV.

Consider, if you would, the common bell
that rings to call the faithful unto prayer.
It’s said to scatter goblins back to hell
and keep all those in earshot under care.

Before the Renaissance and modern science,
medieval Europe hadn’t much to boast.
It lacked a continental great alliance
uniting all into a mighty host.

Yet thanks to all the bells in all the steeples
their metallurgy proved to be the best.
A horizontal bell will soon unpeople
unwary armies set against the West.

A weapon born of peaceful monks and nuns:
black powder in a bell begets all guns.


XVI.

A late September wedding in the pines;
an arch of birch and rich autumnal leaves;
a sky of grey with misting soft and fine;
and decorations fit for Hallows’ Eve.

Delicious odors waft upon the breeze,
a promise of the feast about to start,
while buzzing here about the apple trees
the dying summer dragons flit and dart.

The barefoot bride with long and wispy veil
now treads along the rugs laid on the grass.
A little girl strews maple leaves from pails
while friends and family smile as they pass.

There is a risk to weddings in the fall
but when the weather holds, they do enthrall.


XVII.

The Buddha never merely was a man
according to the Zen philosophy
but is the mind itself at greatest span,
potential for Enlightenment-to-be.

In Journey to the West the Monkey King
is humbled only by the Buddha’s hand.
He is at one with every single thing:
all creatures in the cosmos and on land.

The Buddha, saying nothing clear of God,
embodies pure compassion as the Way.
I find it difficult not to applaud
the bodhisattva’s love toward all who stray.

Though we suppose a conflict ‘twixt the two,
both Buddha and the Christ say something true.