TOJI-Shingon temple, Kyoto

Men asleep in their underwear

Newspapers under their heads

Under the eaves of Toji,

Kobo Daishi solid iron and ten feet tall

Strides through, a pigeon on his hat.

Peering through chicken wire grates

At dusty gold-leaf statues

A cynical curving round-belly

Cool Bodhisattva-maybe Avalokita-

Bisexual and tried it all,weight on

One leg, haloed in snake-hood gold

Shines through the shadow

An ancient hip smile

Tingling of India and Tibet.

Loose-breasted young mother

With her kids in the shade here

Of old Temple tree,

Nobody bothers you in Toji;

The streetcar clanks by outside.