Kogaku Roshi Wanted To Visit Brooklyn Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

again where he called himself Jimmy K
and when he did so
always stayed at my place
bringing a student with him.
this time an Apache Indian from Mexico named Inez.
At the airport I opened the trunk
to place the luggage inside
and was surprised to see a shoe-box
labeled John Dunn’s Ashes.
He was a teacher who died of AIDS a month ago
thin as a pencil, no hair left, also no relatives
so I took care of the cremation
but not knowing what to do next
the shoe box stayed in my trunk.
“Who is John Dunn? ” asked Inez
and I told the sad tale and Jimmy K
immediately said he needed a proper Buddhist funeral.
John’s not Buddhist, ” I said
“He true true child of Buddha.”
So off to the Pier in Coney Island
where Jimmy K opened the shoe-box
and chanted in Japanese for fifteen minutes
then removed the plastic bag
and held it out to me
Inez whispering, “Into the water.”
I grabbed a handful of ash and flung it over the ocean
watching the gray dust drift away
Inez the same
followed by Jimmy K who asked,
“No tears, Big Bernstein? ”
Shocked at the question. Nervous.
The old man up to his old tricks
every word a challenge to wake up
so I quickly tried to force a few but no go
then Inez weeping before me
and didn’t even know the man
when suddenly her finger on her face
then on mine
smearing tears across my cheek
as Jimmy K chanted again in Japanese
and more ashes into the ocean
until none remained.
“No tears, Big Bernstein? ”
What could I say, my head a block of wood
but the old guy kept trying and trying
his deepest vow
to liberate all beings
so I spit on my finger and rubbed my nose.
“OK. OK. Almost there.”