A Lotus State of Mind 

Aural jewel set in a single tone
Ommmm echoes from the depths
of countless white-clothed yogis who contemplate
Arjuna, anxious on his way to war.
Charioteer enlightened the prince with consciousness
shielding him from showering of arrows.

Resting on scattered papers, Walden sits open,
a white water lily blooming above muck.
I leave the desk with a mind burnished by law.
Taxi ride — window’s stream of light pulsing
between trees passing into skyscrapers —
rolls by as I rehearse imagined colloquies:
Your Honor, there is no factual basis
 for the damage he seeks
to impose on the community.

Cabman recalls the Lotus Effect,
some unapparent purifying force.
Microscopic spears on lotus leaves
pierce raindrops, shatter them into micro-drops.
Shrewd angles shed fungal spores and dirt,
carry them away with beads’ rolling motions.

Advancing into the courtroom
with rain and street grit streaming,
I speak before a panel of black-robed judges
well-armed with the leaves of precedent.
Enlightened by floral wisdom, we unite
as democracy’s benevolent one.