The Depths of Human Grief

Late have I seen the depths of human grief,

A sorrowful tableau before my eyes,

A stalwart soul now drifting as a leaf,

His storm-racked heart to all who listen cries:

"Seven years I still cannot release

The bonds of memory that bind me tight.

For me there is no calm, no deep surcease,

I grieve the day and am assailed by night.

To all who come I re-enact the years

When bliss and beauty came enclasped by love.

I saw so clearly then, life held no fears,

Our joys entwined the fragrant seasons wove

Into immortal tapestries of light.

And now I set a table for her soul

Who watches my days depart in tearful flight

For somehow I have lost the Self's control,

Yet all my sadness yields a strange delight

As savour's in such suffering and pain

One hesitates to swiftly yield the right

To recall the torment's odyssey again."

I left him there a miser of memories

Aware I might have travelled the same road

But God in time annulled the vain reprise

And lifted from my shoulders death's grey load.

But this I know that in some future life

We two will meet and I shall recognize

My soul's companion through the ages' strife

And in the melting beauty of her eyes

Re-find the treasure lost too soon to death.

The journey towards the dawn unites us still.

She lifted me with all her being's breath,

And taught me of the deep reserves of will.

This world of sorrow now has run its course,

And cannot afford the luxury of grief,

Must seek our being's truth and find its source

Hold fast to life and faith's confirmed belief.

No longer shall I mourn a soul's advance

Who shed the body as a threadbare robe.

There is no end to the Divine Romance

Or Grace descending on this small blue globe.