salty buddha

Everyday on the way to work, the train passes by a strange manufacturer of steel tanks.

Over the now abandoned street entrance at train level, above the door frame, is a tiny one foot by half a foot alcove, holding what appears to be a soot encrusted smiling monkey Buddha.

It's been there for goodness knows how long. Looking over all the industrial traffic that has passed by over the years. And now the strange sooty grimace looks down on commuters, probably unnoticed by most.

I had already noticed him years back in a drunken walk down this street years before the train went in. And how happy I was to re-notice him all these years later...

Just what was the Buddha doing up there? Was he o.k. all covered in years of truck exhaust?

I've never had the nerve to stop by and ask just what this effigy is doing sitting in an otherwise forgettable brick facade.

My fear is that someone in management may take notice and take it down, making my train ride all the less pleasant.

I mean it's like having my own personal greeting from some kind of "higher" power or observer as I make my way to and fro from work.

The other day I drifted off on the train and dreamed I was up on a ladder, and that to gain possession of the sooty Buddha, I had to lick the statue.

He was salty,and that woke me up.