a small entreaty

This poem was written by Patti Smith in 1994 for the Dalai Lama:

May I be nothing
but the peeling of a lotus
papering the distance
for You underfoot
one lone skin
to lift and fashion
as a cap to cradle
Your bowing head
an ear to hear
the great horn
a slipper to mount
the temple step
one lone skin
baring this wish
May Your hands be full
of nothing
May your toys
scatter the sky
tiny yellow bundles bursting like stars
like smiles
and the laughter

-- Patti Smith (via an interview in Shambhala Sun) h/t my friend Hydrox