A Poem On Compassion

Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow
Because even today I still arrive.

Look deeply: I arrive in every second

To be a bud on a spring branch,

To be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,

Learning to sing in my new nest,

To be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,

To be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and cry,

In order to fear and to hope,

The rhythm of my heart is the birth

And death of all that are alive.

I as the man-fly metamorphosing on

The surface of the river,

And I am the bird which, when spring comes,

Arrives in time to eat the man-fly.

I as the frog swimming happily

In the clear water of a pond,

And I am the grass-snake who approaching in silence,

Feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child Uganda, all skins and bones,

My legs as thin as bamboo sticks,

And I am the arms merchant,

Selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve year old girl refugee on a small boat,

Who throws herself into the ocean

After being raped by a sea pirate

And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving

I am the member of the politburo,

With plenty of power in my hands,

And I am the man who has to pay his 'debt of blood'

to my people, Dying slowly in a force labour camp.

My joy is like spring,so warm it

Makes flowers bloom in all walks of life,

My pain is like a river of tears,

So it fills all four oceans.

Please call me by true names,

So I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,

So I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by true names,

So I can wake up and so the door

Of my heart can be left open,

The door of compassion.

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Vietnamese Zen Master