Tricycle | Awake in the World

I’ve a fat-happy Buddha belly
not to be confused
with Buddha mind,

which is arrow-slim and quick
as the knife of Ting the Cook
slicing fresh ham.

I do not claim to know the joys
and sorrows of the koi in the pond.
But I know the pleasures of feeding them.

The fruit on the tree of love
is an apple
I have sampled. And will again.

“Golden apples,”
sweet oranges in the sun.

Everything I own is in
my heart and head and amounts
to almost nothing, a dream—

and yet a long moment of silence
to greet the day
is a glimpse of heaven.

There are dreams to be realized
before dreams and dreamers die.
We’re borne on the wings of butterflies.

Sam Hamill’s recent books include Almost Paradise: New & Selected Poems & Translations, Measured by Stone, and Avocations: On Poets & Poetry.

Listen to Sam Hamill read his poem here.

Artwork by Molly Dilworth