For Thich Nhat Hanh and the Blue Cliff Community
I hear the Tibetan bell,
the rubab, the electric guitar:
The sound of solidarity
and sparks
from the source of compassion
paint my rhythms
with bamboo brushes.
My feet approach the threshold
that my hands once rejected.
That was then.
This is now.
Now
I choose to dance,
to cultivate lotuses in my words,
to leave gathas in my graffiti
as I raise my voice in elation
and say:
Welcome home!
Welcome home!
Derogatory echoes
once harrowed me,
tore down my foundation,
swindled my money,
depleted my rivers.
The Earth beneath me
stood witness
in my divine demise
as I stood back up
to embrace the sky
and as my atoms became candles
I smiled
to the Buddha’s image.
That day I learned
to dance
with the dead
without sacrificing
my skeleton.
Even as junkies pop their veins.
Even as crosses burn in ghettos.
Even as children starve in the shadows.
Even as traumas emerge behind whispers.
Even as neighborhoods riot without reconciling.
Even as viruses steal our vibrations.
I still turn
to the Bodhisattvas
and cry:
Welcome home!
Welcome home!
Jerusalem is the call from the mountain’s zenith.
Mecca is the song we rediscover.
Sarnath is the sculpture of our stillness.
Lalibela is knowing we’re not alone.
The breath I take
feeds the freedom,
the emancipation
of our planet’s orbit.
I was one prisoner
that refused to remain craving
and recognized the unity
that loves present company
and the mirth
that thrives on mindfulness.
I am now one atom
in an apotheosis
of all the souls
that search for sustenance.
I am now one message
in a global web of stories
that bleed
into one joyous redemption.
So now
I align my rhythm to one ecology.
I center my gaze to one star.
I ground my body in one Earth.
I bring my concentration to one Space.
And call
to the wanderers
who awaken our minds,
the voice of peace
that travels through masters.
Your voice transmits
and I swallow it
with gratitude
and I call to you:
Welcome home!
Welcome home!
Welcome home!
Welcome home!
About the author:
Paz Griot is a spoken word poet, visual artist, actor, playwright, and performer originally from New York City. He has been living in Istanbul for 2 years and traveling the world since high school, including the United States Peace Corps and the University of Hyderabad, India. He has written and published several poems, performed in countless plays and open mic events, written seven plays and exhibited his paintings, collages, and sculptures in six gallery shows in New York. He was awarded the Blue Dot Award for innovation in visual arts in 2011 by the Art Students League. He is currently writing his eighth play, launching a Zen meditation group, and pursuing freelance opportunities in writing and editing. You can also follow him on his Youtube channel here.
The Poetry Passport 