[Arts] Tide: A poem about my ordination and illness

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  • Koriki
    Novice Priest-in-Training
    • Apr 2022
    • 399

    [Arts] Tide: A poem about my ordination and illness

    I have recently had some improvements in my health that have enabled me to be less housebound. A former neighbor, who has her own health and mental health challenges, heard about my recent ordination and improvements and wrote this poem for me for my birthday. It surprised me as I have only seen her once in the eight years I've been sick, but my struggles have clearly been on her mind. You just never know the impact you might have on others.

    Tide

    Like the chime of a bell
    Everything shifted so swiftly
    Things I held for so long slipped away
    And left me, so suddenly.
    As time went on, I wondered
    If I would ever be whole again
    My life's journey
    scarred with pain
    Yet, as I continued to live
    The world changed around me
    Even though I didn't realize it as the time
    I was changing with it.
    As the sea pushed me out before
    It pulls me in now.
    I watch the sunset with new eyes.
    And I am alive again
    Reborn through suffering
    Like the chime of a bell.


    Gassho,
    Koriki
    s@lah
    Last edited by Koriki; 07-13-2025, 10:30 PM.
  • Bion
    Senior Priest-in-Training
    • Aug 2020
    • 5603

    #2
    Oh, what a wonderful and thoughtful gift! She could not have chosen a more appropriate zen symbol than a chiming bell! Lovely!

    Gassho
    sat lah
    "A person should train right here & now.
    Whatever you know as discordant in the world,
    don't, for its sake, act discordantly,
    for that life, the enlightened say, is short." - The Buddha

    Comment

    • Seikan
      Member
      • Apr 2020
      • 730

      #3
      Koriki, that is beautiful! Thank you for sharing her words here. I particularly love the image of the bell chime as a symbol of rebirth . . .

      And was it your birthday recently? Happy belated birthday!

      Gassho,
      Seikan

      stlah
      聖簡 Seikan (Sacred Simplicity)

      Comment

      • Jundo
        Treeleaf Founder and Priest
        • Apr 2006
        • 42330

        #4
        ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

        Comment

        • Kojitsu
          Novice Priest-in-Training
          • Mar 2024
          • 306

          #5
          Wonderful!

          kojitsu

          Comment

          • Houzan
            Member
            • Dec 2022
            • 646

            #6
            A precious gift Thank you for sharing.

            Gassho, Hōzan
            satlah

            Comment

            • Kokuu
              Dharma Transmitted Priest
              • Nov 2012
              • 7260

              #7
              That's beautiful, Koriki. What a lovely gift!

              Gassho
              Kokuu
              -sattoday/lah-

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