Thong Dong

Nắng vàng trải rộng trên vai
Chân đi thong thả trên nền cỏ xanh
Ngắm nhìn cảnh vật chung quanh
Cỏ cây hoa lá âm thầm sinh sôi
Qua rồi một giấc chiêm bao
Không hư không ảo không phiền không đau
Bây giờ hiện tại là đây
Nhịp nhàng hơi thở trở về tự tâm.

Writer’s Notes
This poem was conceived back in late summer of 2009. Though I cannot recall the exact date, I remember that Sunday afternoon well.

The sun was up and it was not too humid. Light wind breezed by every once in a while, rustling the trees’ leaves.

Bare feet pressed gently on the green sea of grasses carpeted front yard.

Sitting under the shade of the Eastern redbud tree, with Kiki by my side nosing up sniffing at the cooling breeze, I simply enjoyed the view of a quiet summer afternoon.

Kiki

He had waited for mother and I to come back from the retreat in order to see us for one last time before he succumbed to his year long battle with the illness of collapsing airwave and a bad heart.

Letting him goes is not easy, but it is something that we have to do. Yet, happy memories of him remain within us always as we smile at the color changing leaves whenever autumn arrives year after year...

In Loving Memory of Kiki
1993-2009

Goodbye, Kiki! I love you. . .