Rabbit (written on 4/29/21)

I wrote this poem during my lunch break at work one day, while lonely and crying in my car. I was feeling deeply hopeless and was in a dark place with my depression at the time, and so I chanted this Buddhist mantra that I chant every day called Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and it made me feel a lot better. As I chanted, I gained the life force to appreciate this beautiful little moment when I saw a rabbit and a squirrel outside of my car window, and it inspired me to write a poem about this precious brief moment.

The rabbit
Brown fur
Soft large eyes
Cocks its right ear
Then its left
Sits up at attention
Wiggles its nose
Looks around
Monitors the premise
It races across the grass
I chant in appreciation
While looking out my car window
I chant in appreciation
To this rabbit
For helping me understand
That in life
When you are battling inner darkness
Depression and suicide
Facing death head on
When you're young and directionless
You need to appreciate the little moments in life
Facing life and death teaches you
To see the beauty in the everyday
I send daimoku
To the rabbit
As I appreciate their life
And how by their living
They taught me the value of life itself.
Tears run down my face
As I chant each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
To my little friend
He has given me a reason to live.

I chant while watching 
The squirrel rummage and search for victuals
It finds food
Digs with its teeth in the grass
Nourishes itself
Then disappears.
The squirrel returns 5 mins later
Eats its meal
Relishes it
As it looks at me
It runs to another place in the grass
Forages
The bunny bounds, approaches the squirrel, -Hey friend.
The squirrel runs up a tree.
The bunny races from the squirrel
The squirrel poises, then jumps from the tree
It rummages, nibbles fast, eyes me, pauses, 
Twitches its tail
A blue jay flies away
The squirrel shifts around furiously 
With a vibrant life-force
An ichinen like no other 
It rummages with its black little nose
Through the mulch
Peers up at me
-What are you looking at? Leave me alone.
It stealthily bounds to the bushes
Oh ambushed by rabbit.
Rabbit runs 
The squirrel
From a distance
Nibbles at more food
Rummages everywhere
For a gold mine of food
It bounds around the curb's grassy sidewalk
I chant nammyohorengekyo
for my friend to find more food
It keeps digging
with its never give up spirit.
It emerges from the earth
Nut in its mouth
then digs and digs with its paws
So determined.
Its fellow squirrel across from it
on the other side
searches for more food
more buried treasure
Its tail curled around its body
It bounds away
So long friend

My friend
the rabbit
returns once again 
standing still
I chant
fusing my Buddha life energy
With its Buddha life energy, activating its life force
It stands rapt
Its hind legs bunched
It licks its fur
Wrinkles its nose
1 min left of lunch
I savor this art
This natural beauty 
my friend bounds away. goodbye.

Author: The Arts Are Life

I am a writer and musician. Lover of music, movies, books, art, and nature. View all posts by The Arts Are Life