Benji Poem by Zen’etsu Clay

‘Remembered and Recited’

Grandmother, Motherly, Auntie Mind

Buddha Way, Feminine Divine

There is no Shuso

So whom do I serve

All Beings, she said

It’s how we preserve

Grandma, Memaw, Nena, Gran

Lend me now your generous hand

You’ve shown me the way

through your years of service

May your selfless lives

come to the surface

Uttara, Mitta, Mother Gotami

Punna, Sumedha, Mittakali

Our founding women ancestors

forgotten and left unsaid

This All Beings Ango

your words have been read

Walking kinhin in a new dimension

Go calmly, she said, and we have listened

A wish for freedom

Present day Nigrodha Grove

All you 500 women

Our steps, you wove

Aoyama Roshi, Sister Chan Khong,

Inryū Sensei, true baika song

Women give light

No world can stain her

Plum blossoms bloom

in their winter container