You Are IT

I met the Buddha on the road
and tried to kill him…

But he used some Ninja stuff and
beat me. He took my wallet,

not the money, just threw out
all my photo ID.

Then he helped me up, put his
arm around me and we stumbled

to a working class bar
where we sat all night in the back room

sipping Wild Turkey,
laughing about our minds:

how they invented suffering,
how they invented happiness,

how they invented “good” and “evil”
and their need for education,

how they invented “God” and finally
“authority,” then gave it away

to some empty suit they never
even met in Washington DC,

how they invented War, my God,
how they invented War…

Gray dawn, rainy day, no flower.
Buddha slipped away.

I wondered if I hadn’t just been
talking to myself all night.

~ Fred LaMotte