Oh Bodhisattva stay fast and listen long
To the drone of a distant song
Wound down into mush barely heard
The chant of monks becomes a hum
To cut through a night of moonless gloom
We find ourselves falling
“Om mani padme hum”
Through a crack in our mind calling:
``Form is emptiness
Emptiness is form
No old age or death
Yet no end to such things''
Another mantra, another chant
Elusive wisdom, enlightenment
Lips repeat words, and bells ting out
But Avalokitesvara is saying once more:
``Gate gate paragate
Parasamgate bodhi svaha''
And is gone, gone, to the other shore