“So last night I went with my friends to this bar
The same bar they’ve been going to for two years
Drinking the same overpriced drinks they always drink
Making the same chit-chat with the same guys who always come up to them
Listening to the same unbearable music
And people were making fewer intelligible comments with each passing minute
And the air was so thick with insecurity and false bravado
And I looked at my watch and realized I’d already been there for two hours
And I looked around at all the gaming and fretting and distraction and sadness of it all
And what popped into my mind was the time you used the expression ‘American Samsara’
And then I remembered that April day you asked for two volunteers
And one person was to be herself and asked a question to the other person
And I was the other person who was supposed to channel Chân Không
And in that bar with its mindlessness and midnight mayhem
I breathed in
And breathed out
Just like
Chân Không would
Breathe in
Breathe out
In
Out
Deep
Slow
Calm
Ease
Smile
Release
Present moment
Only moment
And I walked out the door
And back home
Smiling.”
Chân Không
–from Dear Layla Welcome to Palestine
* “swimming against the current”
