A Poem: "Citizenship"

CITIZENSHIP
for Muhaiyaddeen Michael Green

1
--Don't I know you from somewhere, Sensi says.
--"The birds are still in flight," I answer
with Jack Spicer koan carried since college.
--Is that what you learned at Dover Beach?
--Yes, Sensi, first sighting after I lost my faith.
--How curious, grasshopper, faith that can be lost.
--I am always losing things.
--Thank Buddha, they are things you can find again
like car keys and birth certificates.
--You mean things left lying around the house, Sensi?
--Nothing is lost, just more or less salient
given the moment. What does Basho say?
"The ultimate jackpot:
Firefly breathes light on temple bell
to ring it."

2
--Grasshopper, what did you lose your faith in this time?
--My faith in a God whose name comes to mind
like the name of a prescription drug.
--A prescription for what?
--Memory loss.

3
--Is there any God other
than the one who can disappear
like a flock of birds headed south, Sensi asks.
--You mean the God that always returns?
--Ah, grasshopper, but does he have to go
for even a second?
--Not lately, Sensi.
--What is the name for this God?
--The Restorer, Sensi.
--I suppose one alias is as good as another.
Tell me another name this God goes by.
--The Beholder and Beholden, Sensi,
twins lost in the intransitive gaze
of all-consuming remembrance.

4
--Grasshopper, will we still meet like this
once the flames beckon to my bones
and you must find my original likeness?
--Your staff is always at hand, Sensi,
bringing the moon and mountains closer.
--You won't need a souvenir cup of ashes?
--The cup is for tea, Sensi, to drink to one another
to remind us the war is over.
--Some say it never started, grasshopper.
--Then they must be having a very good day.

5
--When you strike me gently with your staff, Sensi,
I feel like a fish nestled in the pelican's mouth
being carried in a candidacy for heaven.
--'You always hurt the one you love.'
--They say the Buddha presents the sword
that will kill him to his assassin.
--Remember to bow before using it, he says.
--Is that what your Buddha told you, Sensi?
--Mine took back the sword and asked,
'Don't you have a train to catch?'

6
--Grasshopper, what is the song the fish sings to the pelican?
--"Take My Heart With You Wherever You Go."
--Ah, the old songs. None like them.
Off with you now, no need to say goodbye.
--Sometimes when I'm walking, Sensi,
the mountain quotes you to me.
--Mountains are the last to go, grasshopper.
What words does the mountain attribute to me?
--"The birds are still in flight."

--David Federman, Ardmore, March 8, 2011