wisdom of the crumbling Buddha

The Wisdom of the Crumbling Buddha 

The Buddha sits, a smile serene

Upon his face; while all around him

Crumbles into oblivion.

Why are your smiling Buddha?

What do you know that allows

You to accept your fate with tranquility?

I sit and stare at Buddha, and think

How alike we are:  for my world is crumbling

As well, but then again, I’m not serene.

I wish I had your answers, your deep

Indifference to this shattered world,

But I’m a man, and not a Buddha;

I can’t shut out this world of pain;

I can’t withdraw into some other

Place where men don’t count,

And everything’s the same.

I guess we’re really not alike,

When you look at it this way.

But sometimes, I wish I could

Withdraw and smile complacently

While the world crumbled around me.

Why are you smiling Buddha?