Buddhists believe (I read it just this month)
there is no death or birth
no coming and going
they say that things (and people) manifest
when conditions favor it
and no longer manifest
when those conditions change;
thus death and birth (like everything we “know”)
are mere illusion
My father blew in recently, on quite short notice
feisty as ever, to check things out
to check me out
the father who’d informed his first-born child
(a girl to his never-ending disappointment)
he didn’t need to kneel to say his prayers
—she’d dared to ask—
since he was grown.
My father the Archie Bunker of Rocky Hill
inordinately proud
of all wrong things
who’d swallowed his pride (raised Catholic, as a child,
he claimed to be an atheist)
and dragged me off to petition
Sr. Mary Consolata, dean,
There was one heck of a manifestation
here last week—
Magda and Peaches are my sworn witnesses—
when my father came (with very little notice—
no opportunity to flee—
(he hasn’t been around much in recent years
feisty as ever, to check things out
to check me out
My father showed up here last week
as bold as brass
marched right in as though
it hadn’t been
long years since I’d last seen him
come to check things out he said
check me out more like it
Got in while Magda held the door
for the Mercy delegation
karenblenz
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