Tonight, in silence,
all of us sitting in our homes,
we thank you
for making us who we are,
For being the person you were,
for giving, together and individually, birth again to us.
All of us having received your smiles, your silences, your words,
your gaze that pierced through it all,
your faith,
you knew how to see in each of us what we could be,
and see in me what I couldn’t see.
You believed in it so much that, carried away by the breath of your spirit,
I ended up believing it too.
You set us down by the river,
sitting in a raft you built,
for each of us.
I didn’t realize then, focused on the water, and questioning the eddies,
I didn’t realize that while you gave the push to send us far away,
You would stay on the bank.
You believed in it so much, and here I am today,
lone captain of the raft, without your gaze, your inspiring words,
without your loving silence,
without the gaps of your flashes of brilliance.
Alone, sitting on a cushion,
And you, disappearing…
The mist, already,
had crept between us
In the direction of the dojo,
made of odds and ends,
I could still make out your silhouette.
Today, the dojo is gone, and you,
have left the shore.
Since then, the mist has dissipated,
You knew me, who else? I do not know.
In a single glance, you knew me,
I imagine that now that you are no longer held back,
you laugh at our predicaments,
I imagine that you think you can help us even better.
Without the fog of illness,
without the riverbanks,
without the boundaries of the maps of this world.
I imagine that the makeshift dojo
is no longer where it was, but everywhere at once,
That you welcome us there and carry us all, at arm’s length,
that in silence, your smile, your gaze comfort us
and guide us even better than before.
