The Far Receding Goal I walked a child among the green boughs weeping Heavy with the weight of fallen snow, And as I walked the woods were calmly sleeping I sang them forest songs from long ago. The hemlocks magical at sunset dreaming, The crackling princess pine beneath my feet, It was a world of softness brightly gleaming, A cloistered space for meditation's seat. But youthful hearts have not the time for slowing With all the earthly pleasures to explore, Too early yet to seek the inner knowing And the heritage of lives on earth before. But now the years have flown and life is fleeing And I have lost the comrade of my soul,

Golconde Portrait The street dogs bark, the moon is full And lorries belch their poisoned fumes, The world is now a crucible In which an unseen flower blooms. Mystic, rising on its stem, A lotus of divine surprise, The supramental diadem Of children born with sun-gaze eyes. I live in Golconde near the sea And walk its glowing black-stone floors, An oasis of tranquillity That leads to occult corridors And trance-like caves of harmony. The outside world intrudes not here Though a vain and rude cacophony Impinges on the outer ear. In an unstained radiance of peace With gratitude I come and go, The soul content, th

Hymn to My Mother O my mother could I have only seen The soul that dwelt within your wasted frame, Might I have glimpsed a visage great, a queen In former births so recognized, your name Majestic sung in choral odes of love, Arpeggios struck upon a golden lute Within the cloister of a scented grove Divine, where Krishna plays His silver flute. I only saw the coarsened outer mould And could not pierce the veils that screened your face Nor share your pain as you grew quickly old And cancer gripped your cells in fierce embrace. O Mother I confess such ignorance Of life and all the joys that lie behind The masks we don for each exp

In Human Breasts One lingering shade among departing rays As night draws down the day to rest and sleep Remains, a hue of orange-gold, a tint As rarely seen before, a diamond glow, No opal and no precious gem could hold The beauty of that flame-like last descent; A beauty I have found in women's eyes And in the kind and noble hearts of men, Peace on the face of the departing soul And joy made manifest in children's song. O earth thy greater destiny awaits Our slow awakening to consciousness, The light now buried as the sun must seem Behind grey clouds or in the darkest hour. But dawn shall come, the harbinger of light. Though years of toil

Commend the Day How meaningless our lives would seem to be If we paused to contemplate, perhaps repent The countless infidelities of mind, How we betrayed our bodies and our souls, Our misspent youth and trysts of later years. Regret like a cross would hang upon our backs And towards some distant emptiness we'd stare. The needs we deemed essential and unique Our woes, our wants, inconsequential things, Our grief a canker that feeds on the roots of life. Though sorrow's tears can overflow the seas Never can they move the gods of fate. As a vase is shattered and the pieces fall So with our fractured lives unless we find Concealed against the f

Open to Us a Brighter Day Sorrow hid my soul in night Grief, the bitter fruit of me And all the woes of earth drew near As I sat beneath the Banyan tree. Laughter, music, beauty gone, Hate and war and genocide Engulfed the world and human tears Formed rivers of pain when honour died. The arts were made a mockery Of twisted passions and human greed, Lust ruled the continents of man And sown in earth the demon seed Flourished as evil's reign began. There was no hope and few did hear The voice of sages who could see The end of darkness drawing near. My offering not strong enough I wept and prayed to no avail

Find the God Within To find the path on which the soul must go Repair the damages of youth and age The peace embracing us to hold and know, Eradicate indignity and rage No longer dwell on all that has been lost; To leave the fields of the remembered past For the soul it is by far too great a cost To dwell with all the sorrows we've amassed. One must move on and linger not too long In the captivating clutch of memory, The call is to the fearless and the strong To leave the world that is for one to be. And yet that world is here, not heaven-far Visible to those who wish to see, No Paradise upon some distant star But on the soil of earth t

Tender Memories Retrace There are infinities of light Bearing down upon our day And those possessing second sight Follow the unerring way. But I am still alone in night For happiness has flown away As from their nest the young take flight Nothing beautiful can stay. The flower's magic calls me still And beauty smiles from every face, Of sorrow I have had my fill And must depart this lonely place But I need summon a higher will Or offer up this life to Grace, Though I cling to old attachments still And tender memories retrace.

A Young Girl Asks "What is this love that all men seek For I am not aware of it. Tell me if you know and speak That I may with its light be lit And all my being feel its glow." The man, though hesitant, replied, "I knew a love that widened so It lifted me, she lately died. I found a love where in the East The sun turns black the whitened skin. She whom I met my soul released And counselled me to look within. Love is not found in outward things, Escapes the clutch of every hand, True love a deeper silence brings, Allows the mind to understand Surrender as the greatest love, Or we may say it is to give, To cons

A Greater Life She from whom I turn away Attracted by a darker way Is with me still, I cannot leave Her fierce embrace, nor can I stay The hand the guides, the touch that heals, The song that is my destiny, The wonders that Her love reveals The moments of eternity. I have lived in fullness of the earth Experienced the soul's rebirth In a room known to a very few In a place that will the world renew, A greater life by Her begin, The hour of God She ushers in.