Art Bupkis

IN AN AMERICAN GARDEN

_____________________________

A sandstone Jizo Bodhisattva,
Sold by an ancient temple
To repair a fractured bell
To sound again at dawn and dusk
Through some lonely mountains.

Now retired far away,
He once guided their dead children,
Those who have the hardest time
Finding any open bridge
From this earth to heaven.

Below his robe two sandaled feet remain,
But worn by time and countless missions,
His eyes and ears and mouth are gone.
Perhaps his mind has left this world
to become a Buddha.
…Gone to where there’s no this day.

Yet, as the sun is setting,
Though it’s bitter winter still,
On my statue’s outstretched hand
Alights a loud cicada,
Calling forth new fireflies
for yet another journey.

–

Clearly
“Art
Bupkis”
is
a
fraud.
The
question
however,
is
whether
he
is
just
a
harmless
“performance
artist”
prankster,
a
sophomoric
rabblerousing
smart-­‐ass,
a
psychopathic
flim-­‐flam
man,
or
a
seriously
deluded
paraschizomanioid
bent
on
the
destruction
of
both
American
civility
and
the
society
that
maintains
it.