Fox Footprints/The Inviolable
For works with similar titles, see Inviolable.
The Inviolable
Sunlight and shadow on the polished floorThrown by the bamboo curtains at the door.Quiet brown dusk elsewhere folding closeThe faint gold pillars, lacquered offering-stands,The lotuses and incense, and above,Amida Buddha with symbolic hands.His head is weary with its orbèd thoughtBeginningless and endless as the tide.Woman, pray not upon the polished floor—What can it mean to him a child has died?Gladness and sorrow are but light and shadeThe bamboo curtains at his door have made.