HIMALAYA GLEAMING

The Himalaya gleaming
can be seen from Katmandu
the smog has cleared away -
it’s gone,
the dust, the grime, the humans too,
it’s all gone quiet on the street
the dogs are asleep in the sun
that shines in the clear air above
now the cars and planes have gone.

It is a wonderful sight to see
but what shall become of us?
We were the ones who made the mess
by all our business and fuss,
and now
we’re all under house arrest
Nature can ease her pain,
but will we learn and will we change
or will it have been in vain?

Given to greed we take more than we need
and our petty fights ricochet;
we think we are gods who can be as we will
but now there’s a bill to pay.
Nature always settles accounts
though her credit is good for a while.
When the reckoning comes and we get our deserts
will we still manage to smile?

The hurricanes are on the rise,
dust storms, fire and flood,
the oceans are choking with plastic waste
but profit’s still thicker than blood.
When will we learn a saner path,
right view, right thought, right speech.
Eight afflictions to be transcended -
Who will learn? Who will teach?

The mountains will shine with brighter light
when the snows and the ice return
and humbler humans sit at their feet
and learn what they have to learn.
But what will it take to make us reflect
and shed all our excess stuff?
Fire, flood and even this plague
still might not be enough.

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Replies

  • Thanks, Andrew and Jan. Namo Amida Bu

  • Frightening but true. Did we ever listen, do we really now? Thank you for the poem and what it says. The teaching that I read earlier of a similar vein was wise and made me think and reflect.
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