For Kim

Earlier today we drove up to Northern Iowa and heard the Dalai Lama (not pictured) spin the dharma. While we were in line, waiting to get inside the auditorium, it occurred to me that I was carrying a lethal weapon - a pocketknife gifted to me several years ago by my brother from another mother, a cat whose name, strangely, is Kim. I looked up ahead and saw the metal detectors and security personnel...so I ditched my knife outside the auditorium. It wasn't the first time I'd had to ditch a prized pocketknife to get past security, but it was fer shure one of the most auspicious. "Goodbye, old friend," I said. Later, after having my mind-heart blown open by the mind-heart infinities of Avalokitesvara incarnate (and I say this sans irony), I went to see if my li'l knife was waiting for me - but it wasn't. It had already ascended to a higher astral plane.