The Headless Stone Buddha

The Headless Stone Buddha
Yong Wan Choi 04.20.12

As though it had been waiting, it tells me:

Forgive freely even the most brazen shock
the affairs of a beheaded world—
how could anyone know them all
do not carry another's rage over into your own
it comes from some cause that neither he nor I can know

How could I ever ease the grievance
of the snail whose house and life were crushed
beneath my foot in the dark of night

To forgive freely in this moment
turns misfortune into good fortune in my life,
a new day dawning bright again

Send even your hurt away, far out of mind,
turn your head toward the next moment and walk on—
so the stone Buddha's hand pushes at my back