The Nature Of Buddha Poem by Alexandre Nodopaka

Sweeping the staircase steps
one after the other downward
counting dead leaves
I imagine my arms to be branches

that wrap my waist over and over
with a longer and longer sash.
I imagine myself a fat tree trunk
Assigning the leafy detritus

into the organic compost bin
I imagine myself a fungus.
And when the mushrooms,
delicately sautéed and digested

I imagine a satiated non-deity
squatting behind that tree
trapped by oblivion but thrilled
by Buddha nature.