On my desk, facing me, sits a Buddha
from the Thai Kingdom of Ayutthaya (mid-1300s to 1767),
a gift from a friend who collects cultural artifacts.
I have probably looked at it a thousand times or more.
And then one day as I was writing,
the late afternoon sun poured in
and literally cast the Buddha in a new light.
I glanced up and was stopped,
transfixed as he seemed to emerge
from the shadows of the distant past.
And with a shiver I realized
I was gazing into the face of someone
from the 18th century.
[First posted: September 28, 2013]
