If Poetry There Be

If poetry there be to rend

The bonds of time-bound soul in me

Then let it flow and cataracts

Come cleansing down and swiftly free

The hidden god's felicity.

Let the mask be torn, dissolved

By falling rain of potent grace

That washes all the past's debris

And clears the eyes to view a face

That I in former births and lives

Have grown to love and recognize

As guide and mentor, treasury

Of deepest truth, inspirer

To a vision spirit sole can see,

Earth reconciled to divinity.

First published in Mother India - March 2001