Diamond Centre

Jan. 17, 2011

Twilight and the tempest of the sea

Crashing waves against the blackened rocks,

Jagged where once we walked on welcome sands;

Spume and spray, no terminus of sound

Against the calm indifference of sky.

Our lives in consecrated silence grew,

We faced the great enigma of the self

And looked beyond the surface for the soul.

Now all is changing and the sea inside,

Turbulent assails the old ideas

And in the undertow our 'isms' drown.

Far from the friendly shores that satisfied

Our mortal longings and our appetites

We founder against the cliffs of old desires

Hoping to rest secure on a dying past,

Hoping to survive awhile and breathe

Familiar air and drink our memories

As fine liqueur that leaves a lingering taste,

Recalling years when love and friendship reigned.

Now with the suddenness that shakes our world

All we thought we knew is questionable

And we are forced to face the darker side

Of human greed, intransigence and lust

For power as the iron age recedes.

Something luminous tunnels through the night

Of human helplessness that we may find

This certainty through births and deaths to come,

Our diamond centre burning deep within.