A poem composed by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche to His Guru

Sadness and loneliness
are my forced friends,
Living in lands forever foreign
as I have no home…

Sounds of my Guru’s damaru
evokes a time long gone,
As it plays in my head
all day long…

My Guru’s memory I projected
onto my daily life,
Keeps me going in a place I am
forced to call home…

Tragic am I living in a
time that has passed,
A memory that I must wake from
although I resist…

Alone with memories
My work and burdens hasn’t any end,
Yet have to trudge on, onto where?
Is there any respite from my hopes and optimism?
Or is it better to accept reality which is cynicism?

Alone with memories
Alone with memories

I long for my youth not for the
false hopes it promised,
But to hear the sound of my
Glorious Guru

Playing his divine music
on his damaru again…
To be warmed by his wisdom,
blessed by his strength…

Alone with memories
My work and burdens hasn’t any end,
Yet have to trudge on, onto where?
Is there any respite from my hopes and optimism?
Or is it better to accept reality which is cynicism?

Alone with memories
Alone with memories

And to feel hope again…
A hope that hangs in there,
But often slips away… again…

Gavin Gooi is the son of His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s long-time students Patsy Gooi and Gooi Soon Lee. An aspiring musician and composer, Gavin was inspired to put His Eminence’s poem to music.

Words written by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
Composition and arrangement by Gavin Gooi