A 200-Year Old Monk/Reincarnation in Los Angeles
Martina Reisz Newberry
He definitely exists
erases demons with a squirt gun
given to him by a generous child.
He lives on West 6th street
which is an iffy area at best where he
claims a piece of sidewalk. a patch of grass.
Some say he levitates when he meditates
but that’s only when the meth
is really good and comes as a gift
from Sage, the pink-haired girl
who loves Macarthur Park
who strokes Jarman’s head
as he doubles over feeling
the good stuff through all his bones
which appear to have turned to lava.
Carl watches Bart
eat a half-consumed bagel from the trash
and hopes to be offered a bite
though that never happens.
Bart eats what he finds
refuses to share it with anyone.
Delman’s ass cheeks are showing again
from out of the gray pants
given to him at the emergency room
he frequents when the weather turns cold.
The 200-year old monk swears
he is the reincarnation of Xuanzang
who brought Buddhism from India
to China in 629 C.E. He was a teacher
he says and traveled The Silk Road.
He teaches now he says
from his wheelchair the road he says
is not silk. He credits his long life
with the air he breathed when he traveled
the high mountains of Tian Shan
(the mountains of heaven).
Carla comes to him every morning
trading an orange or banana or an apple
from the free food bins
at the small brown church on Santa Monica.
She trades the fruit for his advice
on which path to pursue in this City of Angels.
Every morning she asks his advice.
Every morning he says the same thing:
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.*
What she doesn’t understand
Jarman will explain to her
after he stands up straight.
*attributed to Gautama Buddha
JANUARY 2026
Martina Reisz Newberry
He definitely exists
erases demons with a squirt gun
given to him by a generous child.
He lives on West 6th street
which is an iffy area at best where he
claims a piece of sidewalk. a patch of grass.
Some say he levitates when he meditates
but that’s only when the meth
is really good and comes as a gift
from Sage, the pink-haired girl
who loves Macarthur Park
who strokes Jarman’s head
as he doubles over feeling
the good stuff through all his bones
which appear to have turned to lava.
Carl watches Bart
eat a half-consumed bagel from the trash
and hopes to be offered a bite
though that never happens.
Bart eats what he finds
refuses to share it with anyone.
Delman’s ass cheeks are showing again
from out of the gray pants
given to him at the emergency room
he frequents when the weather turns cold.
The 200-year old monk swears
he is the reincarnation of Xuanzang
who brought Buddhism from India
to China in 629 C.E. He was a teacher
he says and traveled The Silk Road.
He teaches now he says
from his wheelchair the road he says
is not silk. He credits his long life
with the air he breathed when he traveled
the high mountains of Tian Shan
(the mountains of heaven).
Carla comes to him every morning
trading an orange or banana or an apple
from the free food bins
at the small brown church on Santa Monica.
She trades the fruit for his advice
on which path to pursue in this City of Angels.
Every morning she asks his advice.
Every morning he says the same thing:
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.*
What she doesn’t understand
Jarman will explain to her
after he stands up straight.
*attributed to Gautama Buddha
JANUARY 2026
