where will we go when I die?
where will we go when I die?
my closet houses four—
a carved box, Dancer
the wolfhound;
flower-printed tin
Emma, smooth collie;
cedar box, a saluki
named Salaam;
fourth, rosewood
with brass nameplate,
elegant—Bodhi
the saluki
I regret
my first wolfhound
Kyle, not here buried
four miles away
mix my ashes with
my dogs’
a garden will claim us
Such an intriguing title, and I love the last stanza!
Aaaaah... "Does a dog possess Buddha-nature?" a Ch'an monk asked master Zhanzhou. "Mu"
(meaning "no" in Chinese) the master replied. This answer challenges us to go beyond conventional understanding. The dog doesn't "possess" or "have" Buddha-nature...it "is" Buddha-nature, and can, therefore, be an enlightened Being.