Who Needs Maitreya?
(O gate, gate, paragate,
parasamgate.
Bodhi.
Svaha!
— The Heart Sutra.
O gone, gone, gone beyond,
gone entirely to the Other Shore.
Awakened.
So be it!
— Buddha's Epitath)
In the year forty-eight thirty-five
according to the Sutras
the future Buddha Maitreya returns
to bring an end to this world.
And in the new houses and the old bars of the New Age
men still drink and go crazy singing-
O gone, gone,
gone Beyond!
Who needs Maitreya?
And women still become whores
so men can chase whores singing-
Gone entirely to the Other Shore!
Who needs Maitreya?
And the orphans of the Dying Age
—wanted and unwanted—will sing
Awakened!
So be it!
Who needs Maitreya?
We never wanted you, Bodhisattva
—never profited from your visits.
2/8/00
