BENEATH THE CRACKS

Do you see the cracks

in your clay?

Do you see them

like the Thai monk did

once upon a time

when his monastery was

tasked with moving 

the ancient statue 

from one temple 

to another?

Will you stay up

all night

with a torch

under a tarp

with a hammer and chisel

like the monk did

chipping into

those cracks

long into the night

until surnrise

as layer after layer

dropped off?

And like that rising sun

will you see 

a luster 

beaming through

as the clay falls away?

Will you be amazed

like the monk was

to find that what had been 

hidden there all along

underneath all that clay

for lifetimes

for centuries

was a magnificent

golden Buddha?

When all your clay

is at your feet

will you recognize 

yourself as that

luminous, majestic figure

as the true you

the one who

has been there

patiently, quietly waiting

to one day be discovered?