Dürer’s Rhinoceros, Wandering Alone

Seann Tan-Mansukhani

How far you have travelled across
Oceans
Of consciousness,
To stand alone
In a landscape
Bereft of meaning.

In the cold country, Dürer’s
Imagination imprinted
Your solitude on generations
Of strangers
In search of something extraordinary.
Yet, he encased you
In armor, rendering you
Invulnerable

To prying eyes, desiring
A glint of the mystical,
Without true effort.
Your inward gaze remains stoic,
Not yielding to them
Your insight
Of the secret path.

Your Asian sister remains free
To wander,
Solitary in the forest of Chitwan.
She sees your singular dagger horn,
The tenderness tucked in the folds
Of your massive body.
She vividly imagines you --
A true ascetic in saffron monk’s robes,
With a begging bowl
Of the moment.

And there! In the banks of the Rapti river,
Another rhinoceros, reclining,
Sunshine-flecked,
Ears twitching, to catch
The Khaggavisana—the Rhinoceros sutra—intoned
By the amber-voice of a laughingthrush,
Reborn.

You find the transformation that belongs to you.