WHAT I LEARNED FROM A FOUR-INCH-TALL RESIN REPLICA
FROM CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO




Somehow during our beloved friend’s bardo
a close friend saw fit to bring me a statue
of Avalokitesvara/Kuan Yin
and I, sadly bereft,
stroked its warm rust-colored surface, and
invoked her assistance
for the crossing.

At some point, I knew,
non-theist that I am, that
no plaints to the goddess
mattered

yet at the same time I conned
deep down within
that a

“goddess out there”
didn’t matter.

Kuan Yin is within,
that I must provide
some comfort and future

and it was so,
though my tears are still warm and real.

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