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Bob Lucky

The Exact Moment

By the time I get to Beomosa Temple , despite its beauty, I've had it with spiritual tourism. In Europe, I call this monumental saturation point "cathedral neck;" here I suffer from "crone's syndrome," the condition of being jostled by elderly women keen to leave this world enlightened, and me in the dust.

rain clouds
a tour group
drifts off

Wandering around in a steady drizzle trying to locate a pagoda–this may be one of the few places the Buddha, a man of apparently many parts, doesn't have a tooth or a hair stashed - I notice that in every meditation hall there is a digital clock. Is the exact moment of enlightenment recorded as on a death certificate?

thunder clap
a novice strains to open
a jar of kimchee