Dependent Origination Trumps Old Age, Sickness, Death

Buddha taught that my partner’s molecules ought never leave me.

She might reappear as a star, bird perched on her branch, ladybug at your windowsill.  

If awakened for all of eternity, we still may be lively leaves dancing to our winds together.

Gerard Sarnat has in Tokyo Poetry Journal, Buddhist Poetry Review, New Delta Review, Arkansas Review, Brooklyn Review, San Francisco Magazine, and LA Review, among others. He has authored the collections Homeless Chronicles, Disputes, 17s, and Melting Ice King. Sarnart is a Stanford professor/healthcare CEO and has built/staffed clinics for the marginalized, and devoted energy/resources toward climate justice on Climate-Action-Now’s board. Married since 1969, Sarnat has nine grandkids.

Artwork by Damaris Swass