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FARMHOUSE IN KOPAN 1976

Hindu deities adorn adobe walls

While hundred headed Ravanna scorns his foe,

haloed Krishna eyes maidens bathing

Against the painted backdrop of an English garden,

our landlord’s father, in dark jacket and vest,

and a long white shirt that hangs

loosely over ankle tight baggy white pants,

deigns not to see the unkempt Bideshis

lounging on the straw mats and sleeping bags

in the upper floor of his family’s farm house

Utensils, provisions, clothes and books

claim the corners of the room. A window opens

to the west. On the far hills midst sun-setting

shadows, two houses, two doors, two eyes

like cat’s eyes in the dark – the great Buddha’s eyes

out of sight, but still in mind-

I sense I am near the place to return from.

In this lake-born valley of bamboo,

paddy and stone gods rising

from the earth, the world winds change course

from within, carrying us with it,

in currents that bend

unmistaken light from East

to West. These 41 years later that breath

turn, that sure

light… that long wave that lifts us

still carries me on

Photo: Buddha Eyes from Anuradhapura

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