2011 Issue - Santa Fe Community College

Stupa
by Barbara Robidoux
On the south side, the poor side, the immigrant laden, gangster ridden,
bean burrito and Tres XXX's riddled side of an otherwise fancy art
mecca in the west, a small group of Tibetan Buddhists built a Stupa. It is
a golden pearl in a desert of empty pocketed sand. Trailer homes surround
it. A McDonald's lies at the feet of the Buddha. Amidst the
chaos of a violent and uncomfortable world, the Stupa shines. Tattered
red and yellow prayer flags hang from an old cottonwood tree badly in
need of pruning. The flags appear to be growing from the tree. Leaves of
tree and flags are one. Brilliant white Stupa walls glow against a gray
winter sky. In the east a full moon rises out of the Sangres as the sun lays
down in the Jemez.
moon shines on golden Stupa
chanting fills night air
om mani padme hung.
Santa Fe Literary Review 41