Me and Thich Nhat Hahn

Some people live after death.
Thich Nhat Hahn, They to some,
Is one.

Gone and still here;
Books and Movies;
Cassette tape, Being Peace,
I took home,
Believing my mentor/boss,
Henry, meant me to take it.
Education.

About this time,
Having crossed paths with Jerry Brown
At Henry’s, where we hosted campaign
Meetings, well, he said he went
Sometimes to San Francisco Zen Center

Curious, I went on a night
Monks in black robes spoke of
Emptiness, leaving
The world behind to live
In the depths of
Buddhism,
The darkness of a deep hole;
Me, afraid but happy.

Leaving that sacred space, everywhere
A pink light hung around me
For a week. Pink.

Then Jerry held a daylong at
Lake Merrit
With Thich Nhat Hahn and
The Nuns of Plum Village
And for that day,
I felt sacred.

They may have thought he would last
Awhile longer, offering an 8 week
Course online just as he died.

So I cling to these books,
How to Love, Relax, Fight,
The movie Walk With Me
And that soothing old
Voice of a man who saw
Thousands of his kin
Bombed by us – killed –
And came up with a
Miraculous, loving
Smile.