Three Jewels
1.
Imagine that the world
is a cell
in someone's sleeping body.
you are so small
microscopic.
the sun leaking
onto the lake's surface is the rush
of breath, oxygen flooding: respiration.
the willow's bare stem, colour of cantaloupe, and caraganas,
melon—
flowered... fungi. the fireweed:
fungi also.
what then, is the oriole's call? the precise boat
of the muskrat?
as yet unnamed.
2.
the Buddha gave a small girl three jewels. he said, "this
first one is a symbol of your value," and he handed her
the black feather of the snow-goose. "The second reflects
your wisdom," and he gave her a blade of grass. "The
third is a measure of your abundance," and he gave her
the dandelion kernel of corn.
3.
Now, imagine: the world held
in the silver bean
of the Russian olive
