Buddha on the Bounty by Ted Berrigan

for Merrill Gilfillan

'A little loving can solve a lot of things' 
She locates two spatial equivalents in 
The same time continuum. 'You are lovely. I 
am lame.' 'Now it's me.' 'If a man is in 
Solitude, the world is translated, my world 
& wings sprout from the shoulders of 'The Slave'' 
Yeah. I like the fiery butterfly puzzles 
Of this pilgrimage toward clarities 
Of great mud intelligence & feeling. 
'The Elephant is the wisest of all animals 
The only one who remembers his former lives 
& he remains motionless for long periods of time 
Meditating thereon.' I'm not here, now, 
& it is good, absence.