Poem – There Was a Time

There was a time
When my heart thawed on seeing a rose,
And my eyes lingered on each bud and flower.
The cherry blossoms intoxicated my brain
And the dancing tulips
Drew my lips nearer and nearer to them.
In every cool and clear waterfall,
I loved to bathe my head.
Then I met You, my love, and You taught me
To withdraw from objects and to focus my mind
On the light animating my intellect.
You taught me the law of Dharma
And the way of tranquillity.
Now I do not want to draw close
To roses and violets, but will meet them,
Not on the tangent nor the radius,
But in the centre, where all radii converge.
One may be an incarnation of all the flowers of spring
But I see in the form the fugitive charms,
The desire to possess me, endless suffering
And final disillusionment.
I have read and re-read the book of romance,
Now its contents are stale.
I will love that supreme Being—
The One adored by the nightingale and blackbird,
Who is dressed in the fleecy clouds,
Whose brow is the new moon
And at whose door the rainbow arches.

H.P.S.