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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Loss of Attachment in the Desert [Today's News Poem, June 15, 2010]

Loss of Attachment in the Desert [Today's News Poem, June 15, 2010]

Buddha's face attached to rock:
Etched in cliff in stone display.
Rubbled, quarried, bombed away;
Scattered, used as founding stock.
The sands are shifting: deserts spread,
Recede; and gardens thrive where weeds
Had triumphed over gentle breeds—
Or vanish: golden grain to lead.
Newer gods replace the old.
Champions of faith make war.
Wilderness has always bore
Children made of bone—as cold
As distant heaven—hot as hell.
The prophets die, becoming dust;
The word of God, a cooling gust
That blows the grave where remnants dwell.



“A middle-aged Californian, on a self-proclaimed mission to help American troops, armed himself with a dagger, a pistol, a sword, Christian texts, hashish and night vision goggles and headed to the lawless tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan to hunt down, single-handedly, Osama Bin Laden.”
– Sabrina Tavernise & Salman Masood, The New York Times, June 15, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/world/asia/16pstan.html?hp



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