Rick Kempa

“Be, Be,” Buddha Said. When we gave ourselves over to this word,the things we thought most worthy of concernseemed so small we set them down.How happy to have the holy senseto sit still! The stars took usfor one of their own and whispered in our secretears. Water closed around us likea form that prefigured the final sound. ________________________The title is borrowed from William Stafford’spoem, “The Stick in the Forest.” In the evening the two of us In the evening the two of uskneel before the water-holein the creekbed below camp, filling our bottles. The vaultof the sky opens and downcomes the rain again, big drops splatting our sweat-rimed shirts,our sun-burnt necks. We saynothing, keep kneeling, filling and being filled.