Saint Julian Press
Kevin McGRATH ~ Poet
W I N D W A R D
T W E NT Y S I
X
THE
mystery of sorrow and
Consciousness
of private joy,
We
pretend there are no wounds
So
we might love more fully
The
rites of this living.
Two
souls upon a sand shore
Blue
lake water at their feet,
And
all of light suddenly
Gracious
and invisible
As
it flows and covers them.
The
years and so much error
Small
griefs not yet forgotten,
Love
that was never said
In
profound inner silence
Luminous
with passion.
Life
arcs overhead
Like
an ardent lover causing
The
world below to close
Its
eyes with pauseless pleasure,
The
strangeness of distress, saying:
ԉ
have two souls my love and I
Who
keep with me through time,
Both
are still and know I am
Dressed
only in bare clothing
Woven
of their beauty.
Years
are closely gathered here
Bend
their necks in submission,
All
their lives stay and watch
As
day sings and darkness weeps,
Hours
run away unnoticed.
My
soul and I meet each dawn
Vanishing
so lightly,
Breathless
and unseeing we
Receive
the beautiful
Transparence
of the worldly.
Where
light makes no incision
This
being the only kingdom,
We
are two souls in one
Who
sustain their distinction,
Such
is the mystery of love’s
Universal
promise.
Not
death nor phantasy nor life
Nor
absolute dismissal
Can
fracture that peace now
Where
we are joined by ritual
Founded
on humility.
I
have tried by all means
To
be free of the years,
From
words and their bodies
That
captivate as lightly
As
bronze midsummer grass:
So
I place these my breaths
In
your hand like this,
Loving
your exception
Candid
and unconcealed
Its
validity unsaid.
A
cruciform sun arising
From
saturating fog
Catches
us in a circle
With
yellow serum light,
Revealed
and justly naked:
The
ring a groom prepares
To
be given for a bride,
For
no death nor any living
Can
remove from this present
What
was made without sorrow.’
Buddhaghosa Visits Suvarna Bhumi, Myanmar, 19th C., photo credit, Lilian Handlin.
BURMA STUDIES FOUNDATION