CONNECTED
—Day two of a five-day, silent retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh
Mid-morning, after dawn meditation,
They tells us,
Go for a mindful walk,
enjoy nature.
Most others walk
then sit near him—
our revered teacher.
I settle into a corner of an open field,
grass sleeping, mid-fall.
The mottled sunlight
highlights
a single autumn leaf
quaking and turning and
rising and falling with
an imperceptible wind,
somehow suspended, eye level,
mid-air, just to the side of me,
a maple tree branch above, leaf-strewn earth below.
My closer inspection reveals
an invisible spider thread
thinly attached to the stem.
Mesmerized,
I sit until the distant bell calls me back.
The next day
after morning meditation,
the whole group files out,
mindfully walking along
a different dirt path in the woods;
just above their heads
I see
a single leaf suspended.