The Apostrophe Blog
Photo by pjposullivan.
My poem, “Tong-len Forgotten” was published once upon a time, long long ago, in the June online issue of Napalm Health Spa: Report 2007. According to The Buddhist Dictionary, tong-len is “a practice in Tibetan Buddhism of meditatively ‘sending’ (btang) one’s good fortune and happiness out to others and ‘receiving’ (len) any misfortune and negativity others may be experiencing.” We were on a trip to the lovely Québec City when I bore witness to the scene that later found its way into this poem.
Tong-len Forgotten
How is it I rush past the young man
asleep on a cemetery bench
behind Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste,
my every thought on finding a café
yet still notice the newspaper folded,
inky shroud over his face,
Converse high-tops with no socks,
silver studs that are a belt below
a smile of skin, his waist
alive with its blue-vein tattoo?
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
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