<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Sarcoma Bodhisattva</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""><i class=""><font size="3" class="">For Alice Jean</font></i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">I was astonished</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your body so diminished</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Emaciated by disease</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">And yet your radiance</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Drew me to you as </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Irresistibly as gravity.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Yes, you were – are</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">A goddess, warrior, princess,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">But even those words </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Cannot contain you.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Cannot hold your joy,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your curiosity, your courage,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">your willingness, your presence.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">It was as if your smile </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Peeled the blinders</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">From my eyes and said</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">“Here, see, this is life.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">You have been looking at it </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">All along and missing it.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Come stand in the light </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">With me now.”</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your words were so</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Direct and simple</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Whether describing</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">The details of your </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Illness, how it</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">would suck </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your energy</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">leaving you </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">exhausted,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Or how atuned </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Dudely’s care </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">and love were</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">to your new needs,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Or your journey</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Of awakening,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Or letting your visitor</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Know that it was</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Time to go now.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">In those last days</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Almost everything</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Had fallen away:</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your need to take </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Care of others,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">To be in charge </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Of your life, </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Even control over </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">your body.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">You had emerged </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">from the “goo”</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Bright, clear, fragile</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">And as intricate as</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Butterfly wings;</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">And ready to let go </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">of even that.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">You did not offer answers,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">But the light of your Being,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your love enveloped me</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">As it did everything</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">That it encountered.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">It was a gift that</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Opened me, that I </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Could not help but </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">To try and give back.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">So you awoke in me</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">A willingness that </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Had become a stranger, </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">A willingness to drop</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">My need for safety</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">And control.</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Your vibrant presence</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Inviting me to meet you</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">In this moment,</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Completely alive</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Dancing on </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">the edge of death.</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Bodhi Svaha!</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Barry Vesser</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p></div></body></html>