“Wife of himself/she taught him how to be in this world/as all women teach. The woman in you/will teach you, man king,/how to be.”
1
Buddhist goddess of compassion, the bodhisattva, one who has given up her own place in nirvana to help others: “One who sees and hears the cry from the human world.”
Deep in the night they stole her
from our garden, vandals or fortune hunters—
our statue of compassion and healing
three feet high, two hundred pounds.
Over and over I cry.
Bear with me a while: I am full of tears.
*
In ancient India she was
Avalokitesvara, the god I see in my soul
because I believe.
Her reputation grew, spread to other lands.
Some say the Buddha became her.
This is what I am obligated to tell you:
*
He became Her
through all his listening
which flowered into
the dimension of timelessness.
And he discovered
a woman can be anything.
Wife of himself
she taught him how to be in this world
as all women teach. The woman in you
will teach you, man king,
how to be.
2
What have I become?
In my flowering
petals adorn my sweater and jeans,
populate my dresser drawers.
My visitors are astonished.
I have become
the one these lines have made me.
*
When I am like her, Lord of the Universe,
You will feel it. Then I will feel it.
With You
I will be whole.
Sally Wilder David (Mrs. Fredric Weinstock) has published in The Worcester Review, Anthology, 3Elements Review, Athena, Voices, Silver Needle Press, and other publications. She earned first prize in a Worcester County Poetry Association contest judged by Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Oliver. Her chapbook and a larger volume of poems are ready for publication in 2024.
