This month I’ve gained some astral sooth
at my astrologer’s behest:
In former lives I was the sleuth
who lived them as a search for Truth –
a quest!
She told me I must scan both Nodes,
as quondam selves do therein nest –
the South and North at antipodes,
the Moon’s contrarian abodes
and karmic test.
My North Node lies in Gemini,
my South in Sagittarius.
With folks, then, I am awkward, shy –
for I’ve descended from up high.
I’m humbled, more or less!
Among my many former lives
was Xuanzang,* whom I love the best.
In perpetuity he thrives
and minds the wanderlustful drives
with which my current life is pressed.
I’m less than he, though not the least.
I’ve yet to fathom all the rest –
each man, each monkey, bird and beast.
In search of Truth I’ve traveled east,
though old Tripitaka* got there heading west.
*Pr. "SHWEN-dzahng." Legendary Chinese monk who traveled to India during the Tang Dynasty in search of the original Buddhist texts. Journey to the West, the epic novel of the Ming Dynasty, is a fictional account of his travels, and his character has been rendered in English as "Tripitaka" (pr. "tri-PIT-i-kuh").