Saint Julian Press Poet

Ron Starbuck - Author and Poet

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Park Avenue

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Here, I am with my

  begging bowl in hand,

that only I can see.



I am in the heart of Manhattan,

  dressed in a Canali double breasted suit

walking from St. Bart’s to the



Waldorf, it’s only one block and

  a world away from home. A young

lady passes by, smiles and that is all it

takes you know, one solitary smile, and

  my begging bowl is full once more.

Such riches come rarely, such joy



is known as Shantideva teaches, by

  wishing joy to others first.  Did you know?

That a single smile, like this one, can



save ten thousand worlds, across ten

  thousand universes, as if the first light

of creation has turned back upon the world.

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Park Avenue is from When Angels Are Born by Ron Starbuck

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St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue between East 51st and East 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City during "Summer Streets", when seven miles of streets are closed to vehicular traffic, including Park Avenue from 14th to 72nd Streets.  By Beyond My Ken (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.