Mieido 御影堂

The temple sleeps in me
dreams in me, consulting with bodhisattvas
on my behalf, kneeling in its ancient foundations.
If Mom was alive, she’d tell me how I’ve changed,
that my sleeping is different.
Something in the depths shifts, stirring—
there is gasping in the catacombs.

Koibito, there’s another version of us—
unmarked, unjaded, not exiled from each other.
Sandalwood rises from a gilded censer,
prayers go with it, and old Nichiren steeps in daimoku.

Nichiren: Nichiren Daishonin was a 13th century Buddhist monk who founded a sect of Buddhism based on his interpretation of the Lotus Sutra.
Daimoku: Literally, “great title.” Refers to chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, (Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra).
Mieido: Image Hall, a structure, usually on temple grounds,where a likeness – carved or painted, of a temple’s founder or the Buddha is housed.

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