#5 - Seven Fukujin: Daikokuten

 

A bursting belly and one sated soul

is well and good – but why not five? or twenty?

He brings a feast to fill your empty bowl,

but one good harvest gluts your life with plenty.

 

Me? I think longer term, devise and plan –

this planet offers bounty to the willing.

Renounce the stopgap slop of Fishy Man:

a prayer to me is future-proof fulfilling.

 

You teach a man to fish – y’know the rest –

this hackneyed saw is centred on “himself”.

My field is wider – there’s no use pretending:

 

You teach a man to grow, he builds a nest,

with future dinners lining every shelf –

a home, a hearth, and something worth defending.

 

AWB