by John Whalen-Bridge
I read today about a woman
Who became enlightened
By accident. A spontaneous
Silence opened for her
And she’s in love with it,
Has been watching it ever since,
Maybe like when we huddle close
And watch the slow stable embers
Of a campfire, but I don’t know,
I’m just remembering the text
That was pasted into my newsfeed,
Making her Enlightenment
Some interesting noise
In my head, calmer than most.
Life’s trivialities become background.
She didn’t break down
When her son died.
Which creeps me out.
John Whalen-Bridge teaches American literature at the National University of Singapore. He writes about impermanence, bipolar phenomena, and things people might say.
