A Short Poem About Nothing

Nothing is a metaphor

Strange as that may be 

For a poet to say

A universal solvent

A stand-in for everything

Beyond signifier and signified

Embedded in the fabric

Of the universe itself

* * * * *

The past is never past
And yet the future never comes;
We ride a carousel around
The eternal present sun
Where everything happens
And nothing gets done

* * * * *

What about Avalokitesvara

Remains unclear --

Like the spray of helibore

In a tinted vase

Before me on the altar

I see the Bodhisattva

So distinctly

In a blessed light