8-year-old Buddha

By Jill Rosenthal

On a walk
With my 8-year-old daughter,
All she can speak of
Is what happens next.
“Live in the moment,” I say.
“You’re missing right now.
Take me, for example,
I’m enjoying the sunshine,
Watching the people,
And thinking about
What a nice lunch we’ll have.”
“Ha,” she says,
“That’s in the future!”
Humbled and delighted
By her grasp of my meaning,
I say “Good point, I’ll try again.
I’m thinking how lovely it is
To walk in the sunshine
Holding my daughter’s hand.”
“Ha,” she says,
Dropping my hand.
“That’s in the past!”

24 replies on “8-year-old Buddha”

Wonderful!

Well written, Mom. Well played,daughter!

Perfect!

Love it!! Sounds just like my daughter!!

I LOVE THIS so sweet, so perfect, so love your daughter! XO

Lovely poem.

Love! Now, in the future ….and the past :)

Beautiful and funny! So insightful.

Congrats Jill! I loved that poem when I first heard it and it’s wonderful to see your writing out in the world!

What a delightful poem! Just terrific!

This poem could be an ancient Chinese Proverb. There are many lessons hidden in its simple story. You must be the Dalai Mama

I absolutely LOVE it!!!! I also just watched the “Avoiding Penetration” YouTube link in the info box. It is so hilarious and enlightening. You’re absolutely amazing. Keep writing please!

I love it! Very visual and very internal at the same time! It awakens both worlds:-)

Nice work (keeping it close to home)!

This is beautiful Jill!

the brilliance of this sweet piece is in this smile it’s plastered on my face! love this moment…love this poet. more from her please, dear publisher…encore, encore

Awesome…

Fantastic.

Destined to be a classic. I read it to my 6-year old son and it sparked a wonderful conversation about enjoying the moment. We spend our whole lives working to ‘be here now’. Such a simple concept, but so tricky too. What an incredibly important life lesson for a Mom to introduce to her (clever, precocious) daughter.