Skip to content
Inquiring Mind
Inquiring Mind
  • Home
  • Issues
  • Contributors
    • Writers
    • Interviewees
    • Artists
  • Contents
  • Topics
  • About
    • History
    • Masthead
    • Copyright and Permissions
    • Mailing List / Privacy
    • FAQ
  • Donate
Search for:
Your Support Makes Inquiring Mind Possible
Westward Dhammo! The Future of Buddhism in the West
Fall 1995   Vol. 12 #1
Fall 1995   Vol. 12 #1

Poetry from the Sangha

Mrs. The Buddha

By Janell Mosgofian

 
 

Siddhartha left . . .

in autumn when the leaves crackled gold

and the evenings were cool blue

or was it the flat red of summer.

 

He left her to her own devices

when the babies were asleep

and there was still a moist sweat

on her thighs, between her breasts

as she lowered the netting of her bed.

 

While he was following his breath

she was following the breath of babies

the food they took, the sleep they forgot

the fevers, the shit, the warm kisses

babbling, morning baths, new teeth.

 

When The Buddha returned . . .

Mrs. The Buddha bowed to him

smiling from the golden throat

of a lotus blossom.

 

∞

 

From the Fall 1995 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 12, No. 1)
Text © 1995-2020 by Janell Mosgofian
 
 
Your Support Makes this Archive Possible
 
 
 
© Copyright 1984-2023. All rights reserved.
Sati Center for Buddhist Studies