Poem: “Wind”

Like a well-trained soldier
you know precisely
when to advance
and when to retreat.

When you appear as a gale
you are violent
as a shaman entering
the other world.

But in your gentle breath,
the animate and
inanimate
sing in unison.

I’d like to remember you
as a sage
whose presence is felt
but who leaves no trace
behind. 

 “Wind,” from What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hip Hop (Parallax Press, 1998),  edited by Gary Gach. Reprinted with permission of Parallax Press, Berkeley, CA.  http://www.parallax.org.