by Ilyse Kusnetz
In 1586, Hideyoshi
peasant ruler of Japan,
ordered the nation’s swords
be melted down.
He used the metal
to construct a Buddha
the size of the Jade Palace.
For seven years, 50,000
artists labored to build it.
Ten years after completion
a great earthquake
razed the statue, leaving
no trace of its existence.
War, too, is like this –
a vast, tectonic violence
swallowing our hope.
But who are we
to question the possibility
of miracles, when lying
fallow for centuries
a lotus seed may, without
warning, germinate.
Buddha teaches us patience.
Do you doubt this?
The seed of an Arctic lupine
frozen 10,000 years
when planted, still grows.
*
Ilyse Kusnetz is the author of a chapbook, The Gravity of Falling, and her poems have been published in such journals as Rattle, The Atlanta Review, Crazyhorse, Poet Lore, the Cimarron Review and Poetry Review. She received her MA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University and her Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. She teaches English and creative writing at Valencia Community College.