Open the Doors of Wonder April 1, 2012 Open the doors of wonder And the casements of shuttered night Let break upon the wakening soul A vision bathed in light. Release from the grasp of darkness These human forms trodden down By the pain of otherness That God may spring full-grown From these transient houses built of clay. That we may kneel and see With opened inner sight On earth the living form of thee.

The Transformations of the Night The wild grape twining through the forest's heart, The sudden quail, a beat of thunderous wings Escaping from the stealthy questing hounds And the too-weak goldfinch, faster than the eye Caught in the talons of the silent hawk. Each day I witness death succumb to life And life run headlong into the arms of death. I see the cycle even in myself And recognize the deepest need of change. I wake from sleep that is the near death, Half-conscious in nocturnal realms I move Through worlds peopled with forms that if awake I would shudder at but here am unafraid, Distant lands the spirit soars to find.

The Golden Rays of Dawn Each year the dawn of Auroville grows bright With promise as we look toward the morn, Throwing back the curtains of the night To gaze upon the golden rays of dawn. Gathered in the silent morning, still And focused on the need for unity We seek the measure of that Guiding Will As its symbol rises from the Bengal sea. We must realize the Oneness that we are And in the silence feel the vast descent Of God; the hour is no longer far For the veil of falsehood now is rent And all that we have longed-for is come near. Warriors we, shall face the brightening year With courage and our hearts no longer fea

Saints and Seers Look now upon these lives so deeply lived Immortal robed in our mortality; As the lanterns of their souls were lit To chase the darkness from these troubled days That break upon the flood of endless time. They summoned peace into earth's restless field Where truth and love and light are rarely seen. We are the finite of an infinity That moves us towards a purpose vast and free; Though we are jerked as marionettes on strings Puppets of an unseen force of fate, Moved by the karma of long-forgotten deeds And rage against our own iniquities Delight is the close companion of our days. In this still hour when night begi

O Hear the Voice Soon shall we hear the interweave of sound Unheard before and melodies of light To chase the darkness from the hallowed ground Relieve the earth oppressed by death and night. For music from the higher planes come down Shall waken in the heart forgotten song And when the spectral presences have flown Peace will descend for which our spirits long, And love shall sing from this our human choir In hearts desirous of the grace supreme As golden chords struck on a golden lyre Flowing as a clear untroubled stream. O hear the voice that sings through leaf and flower And in the waves that yearn towards the shore Upon t

Russia and India I know the music of the Russian soul And the mystic substance of the Russian heart. In dim cathedrals filled with frankincense, Lit by candles flickering in the dark I chanted prayers so deeply stained with grief, These lamentations that would move the dead In mortal plaints surpassing loveliness Whose voices could support the cosmos' weight. I have seen the courage and the strength of will That survived invading hordes and will survive Religion and the dogmas of the church. For Russia's land is the Motherland. Already her children have heard the inner call Of India and sailed to those vast shores, To seek the occult w

There is a Land There is a land where only soul can go A galaxy beyond the farthest star A garden of light that every child would know, Close within we think it daunting far And yet it calls to us like a heaven-bird But blind we see it not and rarely hear The still small voice of the Eternal Word Its sweetest strains so gentle on the ear That listens through the silence for the sound Chanting within the tortured human breast; No peace shall be until that Peace is found No joy retain until in That we rest.

The Path that Leads to the Undying Ray Untroubled by the turmoil of time's seas, Unmoving when the winds of fate blow down And cast his ship toward an unknown shore, Beleaguered and beset by evil sown, Adrift between the known and the unknown And smote by sorrow to his being's core, It is in signal moments such as these When all life seems a riddle in a play And night is but the obverse coin of day An inner guidance counsels him to find Beyond the fixed perimeter of mind The path that leads to the undying ray.

Lightning Strike An otherworldly light, Fills each darkened room The glaring lightning strike Making day of night But not dispelling gloom. Thunder cracks and roars Throws bolts upon my roof And crashes through the sky Raining arrows on my doors But I am shatterproof.

Offering (To Mary Helen on Her Birthday).htm To Mary Helen - On her birthday - Feb. 8, 1998 Offering What offering can I bring thee to celebrate this year? For flowers surround thee with fragrance and beauty is ever near. The torch of thy soul grows brighter with every returning day And thy love and wisdom guide us as we tread the upward way. In a life so filled with richness yet reaching to greater light Thy calm and gentle radiance dissipates the night. What gift could I hope to give thee who gives such gifts to me, But a prayer that this sacred communion live for