Split Pea & Bacon Soup

The smell of bones
The air of pain
The bubbling of blood.

Not to be shunned
or avoided
but bathed in
as a hot-spring
for an aching body.

Karma to Karma.
Lips to lips.
The kiss of death;
To heal me
of my ignorance.

The world works
Just this way,
And I shouldn't hide
from the truth
Like I once did
When I was so
Full of myself.

Thank you, Great Teacher,
for the taste of wisdom
you give me,
and the way your
incense
fills my nose
with the smell
of reality.