Jedi Skills of Grace, My Chinese-Buddhist Sister
I return, lunch consumed.
There’s still time before the Dalai Lama’s public teaching resumes. Grace’s smile radiates greeting, as she beckons me with her hand. “Join us” she instructs. Curious, my face questions - “We go see Dalai Lama: special group meeting." No hesitation – I join. Back of the arena, we file through double-doors They close behind us, and we wait corridor corralled, expectant with hope and excitement. I chat to Grace, I chat to others, group majority are strangers to me. As I stand in my new herd, a feeling gradually becomes conscious: my normally diminutive height, now, sees me with my head above the crowd. It dawns on me that I’m the ONLY white person here, everyone else is Chinese!” I look back to the doors - should I retreat/escape? But the group is moving, I’m caught in the rip-tide; no use resisting, I’ll see where it takes me. Security looks serious: black suits and glasses, big shoulders, folded hands, wires curling from ears, observant, trained to spot anomalies, like me. He steps in.. to..I don’t know… I suspect interrogate or extricate, but Grace dismisses him with a wave of her hand, and the words: “She part of our group." Security steps back, echoing: “She’s part of the group." We continue along white winding passages, until we reach backstage doors. We are about to enter the room where we’ll meet His Holiness. Again we have to pass security. Different, but the same: suit, glasses, shoulders, hands, wires, and me: white and wide-eyed. He steps forward to waylay me. But Grace is there with her Jedi skills. It is as if she’d trained under Obi-Wan, her “She with group” translating to “These are not the droids you’re looking for," he repeats and steps aside…we enter. His Holiness speaks in Tibetan, his translator repeats in Mandarin, Grace whispers English in my ear. He holds hands with Grace, as he moves amongst us, photos are taken, and his robed attendants give us blessing pills. I’m heartened by his youthfulness - soft, glowing skin, so healthy. But, all too soon he has to leave to take the stage once more. In the quiet that follows, I ask: “Grace, I wasn’t supposed to be here, was I?” She looks puzzled, I continue: “the meeting.. was for Chinese..” She frowns at me, wags her finger. Etiquette of time and place no matter, as she remonstrates: “YOU know better – we all same heart!” |
a
|
Thank you for visiting Tweetspeak VerseWrights. © 2012-2018. VerseWrights. All rights reserved.: Acrostic Poems
Ballad Poems Catalog Poems Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Epic Poetry Fairy Tale Poems Fishing Poems Funny Poems Ghazal Poems Haiku Poems John Keats Poems Love Poems Math, Science & Technology Poems Ode Poems Pantoum Poems Question Poems Rondeau Poems Rose Poems Sestina Poems Shakespeare Poems Ship, Sail & Boat Poems Sonnet Poems Tea Poems Villanelle Poems William Blake Poems Work Poems |
To translate this page:
|