Tripitaka (3 baskets)

 

Just like Pigsy, you bring out my gluttony,
betray my desires for what they are -
human and fragile, & yet not easily satisfied.

Just like Sandy, you calm me.
But all the while betray beneath
my guise of superficial coolness
deep currents no one dares swim;
darker than a moonless ocean - warm & deep within.

I am Monkey in front of you;
irrepressible master of both heaven and earth

born from the warmth of an infinite rock!

But, a single sutra from your lips
and I am left breathless and clawing for air.

But just like Monkey, I have no plans
to relinquish your hold on this band.
Because despite what it does to me,
suddenly when I am with you,
I betray in me my heart
not that of a Monkey's -
but of a man.

Author's Note

Sadly, you must have some basic knowledge of the fantastic 80's tv series that was Monkey Magic to knwo what I'm dribbling on about! or perhaps you don't...

note: the Tripikata is a collection of three sacred books/ scrolls in Buddhism that were transported from India to China and in which the adventures of Monkey were based upon.

Reviews

[Collette]

I can't say I am familiar with Monkey Magic.....but I do enjoy a good Buddhist reference, and you've done an excellent job tying it into a whimsical little piece. I love the way this piece flips back and forth, I am nothing, I am everything, etc. It really gives a funky vibe to it. I could also see it flipping back and forth between the animalistic urges and our struggle to be civil. Excellent job. By the way, these lines were TASTY:
But, a single sutra from your lips
and I am left breathless and clawing for air.

I just immediately got an image of Ananda (the last of the Buddhist disciples to achieve enlightenment) struggling to comprehend a word the Buddha said.

Thanks for sharing!!

[Emily B]

Slight recollections of the monkey trickster from Dr. Dathorne's English courses years ago. No notion of the tv series. But today is a day of impressions. Like the semblance between Triptych and tripikata. Foolish notions but that's the way the wind blows today.

We are the many and the one. Pieces and parts of the whole but also the whole. I like the conversational tone of this.