Sho Kannon and the Woodcarver 2008

by sjowall1452

It's about a woodcarver and a 11th century statue, and anything else it's about is none of ya'll's business....it's actually the second most astonishing thing that ever happened to me, besides falling in love.

Sho Kannon and the woodcarver (Kyoto, 1100 CE)--"CE" means "Common Era"--in other words, "AD"

The carver, hearing Sho Kannon's voice:

His voice was the sweetest, softest

I ever heard, as if

Mama poured warm oil

with poppy-juice

into the raging earaches

I had as a child:

they took the pain away,

and filled me with floating

happiness

At the same time,

tiny threads of lightning,

from some natural force

I cannot name, filled

the room, and

lodged in my heart.

(Sho Kannon is a Japanese statue, carved of wood, at the Asian Art Museum. It is one of my favorite pieces. The Enlightenment Being of Compassion, Kannon (Avalokiteshvara—from his Indian Buddhist origins), is capable of assuming any form whoever wants his help wishes him to assume. Japanese woodcarving is superb, and especially beautiful during the 12th century.)

His name means "He who hears the sounds of the world"