To digest Buddha

When we admire beauty
from a distance
it feels good and safe

When we discover that beauty
to be ourself
it is sublime

We spend too much time
singing the praises
of beauty outside us
bowing to the divinity
of gods and masters outside us
quoting the great ones
to feel a tenuous connection

Perhaps now we can see
how unsatisfactory that is
like licking one's lips
watching another eat

Perhaps it is time now
for that great invisible non-existent chasm
to collapse

Perhaps it is time for you and me
to find the courage
to digest our own Buddha