Gedicht
Looking Back

Ji-Shin Marcus Cumberlege

My nights are rivers and seas
Often turbulent and raging,
But death is a vast ocean
Across which I am ferried
By the universal Boatman.
I bow my head as I write.

His Name is Amida Buddha,
Dharma Lion, enlightened One.
He grasped me in the Dawn of Time
And he has never let me go.
For his Vow to save I give thanks,
My life is not without meaning.

I say the nembutsu out loud
Because the furniture in my room
Has ears and eyes. He watches me
Sitting on the edge of my bed
Preparing to make my journey
Into the daylight of tomorrow.

The little boy who whistles tunes
Taught him by rebellious farmhands
In the Ireland of the forties
Is more than half a century later
A poet singing the very same songs
On the stairs of a Flemish house.

How strange. We do not seem to have
Any connection with each other
Apart from these haunting melodies,
And the keeping of a journal.
A sudden thought – supposing this
Was destined to be my last night!

Master, your servant is ready.
The darkness is an unploughed field.
I will perform this task alone.
I remove the mantle of fear
And kiss goodbye to the shadows.
Namu Amida Butsu – thrice.

					Ekō 106
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