contact me
Back To Poems
a question
A Question
And what about Buddha, Jesus
Would you deny me him?
Would his exploration
Of Suffering
And it’s roots
Of Compassion
And it’s skillful expression
Of the deepest reaches of Self
And No Self
Of Impermanence
And Emptiness
Offend you?
Would his practical psychology
And focus on the here and now
Rather than the hope for better, later
Would that lose you?
And what about Moses, Jesus?
The prophet of my father’s father
And his fathers before him?
Are his people somehow less
Than perfected?
Less than?
The sticky hooks
Of my Jewish DNA
Dig their feet in
Like muscled tug-o-war bruisers
Even though
And this is the irony
This path really
Just ain’t
For me
The Judaic reliance on intelligence
Almost a one-upmanship
That for me
Tangles me in the thicket
Of my monkey mind and
Takes me far
From my anemic heart
Which is what needs
This nourishment so much
And Mohammed, Jesus?
Are all of his followers
To a man, woman and child
Doomed to having got it … wrong?
And all the others, Jesus?
All the teachers
Of all the times
With compassionate hearts
Who like you
Lead people
To themselves
And their divinity?
Are these paths up the mountain
All dead ends but yours?
Can you be so
Protective of your Father
That no one else can claim Him
As theirs?
Are we not all
His/Her/Great Spirit’s
Children?
Or are you the big brother
Guarding the door
Requiring your ransom
To let us in?
That we forsake
All others
For your approval
And to belong?
Are you not a friend
Sitting patiently, quietly, lovingly
At the foot of our bed
Through our tortured midnights?
Who teaches truths
From little “t” to big “T” too
A resplendent version of truth
… but a version
If there is The One
Behind the many, Jesus,
Must you
Being in my heart
Push out all
That those others have done for me?
This would be so sad
As then I don’t let you in
Or anyone really
As doing so becomes a dangerous commitment
Because for me, going right
Means somehow
In my twisted geography
That I can’t ever go left again
SGK 4/26/10
