<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;" class="">Shoveling Snow With Buddha</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">you would never see him doing such a thing,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">tossing the dry snow over a mountain</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">of his bare, round shoulder,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">his hair tied in a knot,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">a model of concentration.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">for what he does, or does not do.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">Even the season is wrong for him.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">In all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid?</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">Is this not implied by his serene expression,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe?</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">But here we are, working our way down the driveway,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">one shovelful at a time.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">We toss the light powder into the clear air.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">We feel the cold mist on our faces.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">And with every heave we disappear</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and become lost to each other</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">in these sudden clouds of our own making,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">these fountain-bursts of snow.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">This is so much better than a sermon in church,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">This is the true religion, the religion of snow,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">I say, but he is too busy to hear me.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">He has thrown himself into shoveling snow</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">as if it were the purpose of existence,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">you could back the car down easily</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and drive off into the vanities of the world</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">All morning long we work side by side,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">me with my commentary</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and he inside his generous pocket of silence,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">until the hour is nearly noon</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and the snow is piled high all around us;</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">then, I hear him speak.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">After this, he asks,</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">can we go inside and play cards?</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">Certainly, I reply, and I will heat some milk</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and bring cups of hot chocolate to the table</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">while you shuffle the deck.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and our boots stand dripping by the door.</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">Aaah, says the Buddha, lifting his eyes</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">and leaning for a moment on his shovel</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">before he drives the thin blade again</div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class="">deep into the glittering white snow.</div><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""> </p><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Billy Collins</div></body></html>