The Buddha's Back

As you might imagine, this gilt bronze buddha from the Ming dynasty is covered up in the winter time. But as I came down out of the woods from Barr Hill there it was, revealed again. I wandered about the grounds of the garden a bit, and when I returned found one of the gates open. Peering inside I saw a solitary gardener beginning her morning work. I felt a bit clandestine as I backed out quietly and went about my morning. 


"Make of yourself a light,"
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal - a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.


from The Buddha's Last Instruction, by Mary Oliver