combat: peace

By Jonathan Pessant

 a meditation on the 

    passing of Thich Nhat Hanh

five novices kneel

five recruits sit

ten heads are shaved

basic    for training

reciting ten precepts

oathing seven values

transform all suffering

        obey all orders

are you part of us

ordained and loved

are you one of us

brave and bold

the symbolic removal

of hair   of fear   of self

and I can’t stop continuing.

all I see is an apron of tears

in the future   will we

have the need for

soldiers or 

buddhists   or

for rituals in which hair

pillows to the floor

***

This piece originally appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 17. 

Photo by Raimond Klavins.