I Am The Tree There was a time not many years ago When every leaf had fallen from my tree Of life and only barrenness remained, The roots of my existence were exposed, And sorrow was the bitter fruit I bore. For one had left who was my comrade soul. Such beauty dwelt in her that all the earth Could not recall a time when spirit bloomed More beautiful than heaven with its flowers. Yet One, divine and powerful to mould My willing yet my most resistant clay Fashioned anew the branches of my being, My soil to bear Her bounty of delight. She gave me strength alone to stand and grow When those whom most I loved were meeting death. Now is the s

Re-sculpt the Human Image What more shall be is better left unsaid. I gather peace around me like a quilt Of down and sink into a deep repose, Unconcerned with future, present, past, Although the imprint of the years remains To be erased from the template of the mind. I am no longer the being I once was And far from that which one day I shall be, In the silence live and on my lips a prayer, "Re-sculpt the human image I have carved That soul may leap forth from its prison cell And luminous, light the path on which I go For you alone hold my destiny."

God Who Dwells In This Resistant Clay In this happy sanctuary where the green Creeps through grasses and anoints the leaves I walk alone where once her feet had been And something deep within my being grieves, For her hair dancing in the slightest breeze Her eyes like diamonds lighting distant seas. I am troubled by the demons of my past The way is steep, my steps grow more unsure, My thoughts are clouded over and the vast Flame I was I cannot now endure. A thousand thoughts assail the tortured mind Where rise desires of the darker kind, I hear the De Profundis of the soul Suffering and the eternal cry

Haiku in India Homeless cur Afraid of all Looks at me through sorrow's eyes. Old one-eyed hag Smiles at me Behind the jasmines in her stall.

Time of Change Today the grey mist covering the lake, Caresses thirsty leaves, anoints the soil. The long years pass and I am half awake As in the garden of our love I toil, But somewhat slower now, I feel the change That comes upon the soul in times of grace. I am led to clean this house and rearrange My life and all attachments must erase. But knowing not the future I wait to see Or hear the inner call, unerring guide Who charts the steps of this soul's destiny The silent one ever at my side. For even in loneliness does beauty come To find within my heart her native home.

Five Haiku Autumn comes With welcome chill, The leaves begin their fire-dance. Returning late The orange moon Guides my singing silver wheels. A stillness comes Into the room Wind and rain are banished here. Nectar gone The hummingbird Reluctantly turns back towards home. Rain at last, The dying plants Drink deep and leap towards life again. --------------- Note: I have adapted the Haiku that comes to me in English as per my inner guidance, The first and second lines, two beats per line, the third line, four beats.

Out of the Prison of our Narrowness I see beauty where the world sees dust And truth beyond the falsehoods we employ, Misgiving melting in the arms of trust Pain and suffering transformed to joy. I see the breaking of the ego-shell That gave us strength and formed identity But now confines us in a corporeal cell And keeps us other than we ought to be. I see peace descending on the battlefield The warring tribes of man subdued at last By a force so powerful that hate must yield To love or humankind will not last. I see a light in the heart of every child The beauty and strength of women leading us Towards a Tr

Journey Interrupted I keep myself from thinking about her Busy with my hands, the touch of things, The tactile universe above, beneath, And the passing joy of solitary Springs. The soil, my mother, filters through my hands, The daffodils and fragrant peonies Resplendent in a deep cerulean sky, All the earth is vibrant yet at ease. If I do not work the mind takes me down, Down into the caverns of the night, At times it is almost folly to resist, But one must stand and face the foe and fight. A journey interrupted by the past So many lives compressed into an hour Or the second when the choice is to be made, The abyss or trut

God Within to Find This frontal being, this mask of Man cares not To surrender its desires or its needs, Its memories upon which sorrow feeds, Acquiescing to its fate; its chosen lot A minor role in life's evolving play Accepts that nothing by his will can change, Sees his fellow man, a creature strange, Half-beast who can without compunction slay, Or a thinking animal upon the heights Whose wisdom alters not mankind's demise Yet feels at times in him a heart that cries Or lurking in his depths strange delights That seem to him native to his kind, A peace no adverse force can overturn, A hope, a joy for which the ages yearn A second sig

Come to Me in Vision or in Dream Far now from me the smile that lit your face, Enchanting eyes, a body built by grace Oh, if I could find your spirit's resting place – Come to me in vision or in dream, The days are filled with beauty but I seem To wander aimlessly upon a stream Of memories and I have lost my way Among the stinging sorrows of the day, Unwelcome habitat in which I stray. Work is but the body's brief release, The mind not stilled, the heart robbed of its peace Relentless age steals on me with such ease And daily with its trials I am beset But death seems far and we have often met. I need more time to pay my bei