"One does not need to know Buddhism to understand the poem’s theme of mindfulness,,,"

That's fine and well for you to say, Ms. Great Noodle MA (and you probably knew enough about her that you didn't even have to google to know of her Buddhism) ...

But for moi, without your illuminating post, I was left - on cursory quick-a.m. read - cold and clueless. Now I suddenly "get" it and find the poem quite interesting and even successful ... Somehow it does seem to me that her language erred a tad on the opaque side for someone who knew nothing of her Buddhism to quite get it, but perhaps i just hadn't had my second coffee yet (which I am now - but you, MA, get all the credit for my sense of illumination).

And now it strikes me that her title is very tongue-in-cheek if not sardonic ... Beware of things called "invitations" that suddenly thrust you into future imaginings ... mind racing ("is there a later train?") etc..

thanks, MA ...

z