On our first meeting, she

Described me as a “near Buddhist,”

Meaning, of course, that I had

The ascetic qualities of a monk.

 

And it was true that Siddhartha

Helped me lose my appreciation

For things. You learn first that

Attachment is suffering.

 

But Elizabeth Bishop was more

On my mind. Like her, I had

Lost things every day, and

Most of them didn’t matter.

 

We all get practice losing things,

Of course, and we learn it isn’t

A disaster; lives are nothing

More than crude or elegant mandalas.

 

Everything will be wiped away,

And there is no use torturing

Ourselves with excessive handwringing,

Longing, covetousness, or desire.

 

Push on, let it go, they’re only things

After all, and the universe continues

With no pause. And still, I sit

Thousands of miles away

 

Thinking of you.