Arpan’a’

Wherever you go,
take Me with you
in the corner of your heart.
May the sweet memory
of you and Me
linger before your inner eye,
all-embracing
like the evening mist,
refreshing
like the morning dew.

Keep Me, oh keep Me alive
and protect Me
from the scorching rays of Sun
and Moon’s cool jealousy.
May the twilight be
our meeting moment,
when the shadows are long
and the breeze is gentle,
ladden with a sweet perfume.

Hold Me, then,
and be still
for a long, long time.
The first and the last star
will shower their blessings
on our peaceful hearts,
and nightingale will sing
of our quiet love.

You know,
I’d like to know
what is “perfection”
- is it real;
is it possible -
because to me it seems
far out of reach
and pretty impossible.

I know
- I think I know -
I am imperfect.
But even at that
I’m not good
(or bad?) enough;
even there
I’m sort of a failure.

Basically: mediocre.

And that seems to be seen
as the greatest sin:
it is extraordinary
how disgusted we are
with the “ordinary”.

So, there I go:
never satisfied
with what is;
always wanting something else;
something different;
“less” or “more”…
- at dis-ease.

And though a movement
is a must,
I’m trapped
in escaping from myself
instead of:
dropping
into trust.

Since our parting
I’ve been standing on the shore,
waiting like the lighthouse
for a sailor to come home.

I’m watching the horizon
and holding a lamp;
waves licking my foundation
and crumbling it into sand.

Slowly but surely
I will all turn
into the sea-bed
before the Return,

and upon Alighting
on our dear beach
only a precious foot-print
will be within my reach…

Thanks to You, Lord,
I’m becoming less shy
- more bold,
and I wish
that doesn’t give You pain
but joy.

In overcoming my limits
I hope I’m not crossing
Your unspoken ones,
and I’d like a reassurance
that my growing ease
is not an arrogance.

Show me You don’t mind
when I do my thing
and speak my mind;
tell me that You like it
when I live my life
the way I see fit.

I bet You do
- You Who actually designs
everything I do -
so, erase this worry
and let me bask peacefully
in Your and my glory.

It’s fascinating
how, when I start creating,
I actually don’t know
what will it result in:

I connect to the feeling
and watch it turn into pictures,
which cascade and spin
into sound-mixtures.

I weave and weave like a spider,
and play with my thread,
almost unaware I’m making
an intricate web.

In the end,
the dew and the mist
leave us both
jewel-covered…

These words
- their each and every letter -
are my flowers,
and I can’t do better.

Others give You
their deeds and their covers,
but these are mine,
and they’re Your lovers:

each sound shares a kiss
and every picture – a caress
with Your Very Own
loving Tenderness.

The sweet music started
and I closed my eyes…
when, as if for the first time,
I felt embraced by Your arms.

And what I’ve tried for before,
but absentmindedly,
became a plain truth
I savored wholeheartedly:

Beloved is here;
Beloved is with me,
wanting, giving, loving
from all around and within.

I entered Your pupil
and pulsated with Your heart
where the entire world
throbs with Love.

Is it just me
or it is in the nature of things
that when I get what I want
I want the joy to grow infinitely:

never, never stop becoming
more and more loving,
gentler, kinder,
more tender and sweet…?

I don’t want to pluck
an ever-growing lotus:
I’ll be its water-seat
on which its petals
keep opening.

And I don’t want to catch
a golden bee:
I’ll be its pollen-feed
around which its existence
keeps revolving.

But,
please,
don’t, don’t leave…

Wouldn’t it be nice
if everyone would speak
only poetry?

We’d drop
through the pages
of our story
vertically
- not slide horizontally -
and with or without a rhyme
tell it tonally colorfully,
precisely
and concisely.

I used to say
that one day
I’ll “see”.
And now I do.

But, it’s not a whole day
- it’s a mere moment:
a little glimpse;
a fraction of a second…

And it is enough!
More than enough:
the vision so vast,
the taste so sweet,
the feeling so warm
and so deep
that I don’t
need or want
more than I’ve got.

The laws of the world
turned upside down
and my being:
inside out,
but,
so right
- more than anything
I’ve ever thought
or had in sight.