Monk Poem by ENOCH JOHN

Who hasn't heard of the sagacity of Confucius or of the long line of dynasties of China.Their names begin to ring like a Chinese alphabet: Xia, Shang, Chou, Qing, Han, Tang, Ming, Xin, Song.
The ephemeral splendour of China centuries before the Communists put up a new mot -d'ordre,
In the resplendent palaces were marble balustrades and tasselled

lanterns,
the scores of beautiful princesses and ladies-in-waiting adorned with embroideries of varying hues and brocaded silk,
The emperor and empress travelling around in an imperial catafalque.

Around the monastery in far away Tibet,

the chrysanthemums looked golden in the blaze of sunlight,
In this place where its solitude was famous,
For before the wizened monk returned to the monastery,
Like his Roman Catholic counterpart, meditative and reflective
to increase his piety, reciting his runes as he walked away,



these sacred words and his talisman, he thought were for his protection,
So, thus and thus did this Tibetan monk recite his rosary: O mi t'o fu
It was the same rosary that many had heard in kung fu movies.

The Chinese government claimed Tibet and the Dalai Lama fled into exile,
But always remained a Tibetan monk; the Communists
couldn't take away his philosophy or his resilience!