We Dream

 

We dream of beauty, we dream of joy,

We dream of life becoming a multitude

Of complexities, joy flowing into beauty,

Flowing into the vast expanse of our lives.

 

But sometimes, the world is small.

A very narrow street. So narrow, in

Its vast firmament, there sits only

One star. And the whole of being

Is drawn to that lone star.

 

The whole of being

               Throbs

               Toward

         The lone star.

 

It is an exquisite feeling.

Agonizing, deeply agonizing—

Being drawn out of the center

Of its becoming toward another.

 

It hurts.

It rages.

It calms.

Being drawn toward

Its own death.

 

But in death, it becomes, and

What a feeling of rapture, what

A feeling of pure bliss! Being

Drawn toward another and is

Because the other is also irrevocably

Drawn toward it.

          And two

          Selves

          Cannot

          Find

          Themselves

          Except

          In

          Each

          Other.

 

Two souls. Two stars. Burning

Brilliantly, where once, there

          Was

          One.

 

 

 

A Walk Down the Avenue

 

My love, let us walk down the Avenue

And feel the gentle sway of the rolling

        River.

My love, let us walk down the Avenue,

And see the laughing lady arrayed

        In her finest apparel.

O love, let us walk down the Avenue,

And feel the heartbeat of the day,

       The heartbeat of being,

       The heartbeat of the world,

       The heartbeat of two souls,

Old world, new world,

       Beating side by side, beating side by side,

Walking hand in hand down the merry Avenue.

      

 

 

Bird of Paradise

 

O bird of paradise, O flower of paradise

Dancing in the sun on the island of Martinique

 

Sweet, sweet flower, O sweet, sweet flower,

You remind me of one so many times

 

Sweeter than you. O flower of paradise,

O flower of paradise, if you have eyes and can see,

 

You will marvel at her singing beauty,

 

O flower of paradise, O bird of paradise,

 If you have eyes, and can see,

 

You will marvel at her marvelous generosity.

 

O bird of paradise, O bird of paradise,

You remind me of my love—

 

Star of the emerald isle,

Where the purple dog is king.

 

 

 

Cheer of Heaven

 

Summer is here, love. Summer is here.

The gentle rains of spring have departed

Into the near horizon. They will come again,

But not now, for now the gentle rains

Have departed and summer is here, love.

 

The earth is sashaying up and down the slopes

Of heaven, and the sun is laughing like a young girl

Full of life. She skips up and down the slopes

Of heaven in her long skirt and summer is here,

             Love. Summer is here.

 

I know your finals have come and gone,

And before you now lies the sunny horizon.

My love, skip like a rose in the sun.

O love, skip like a rose in the sun.

For summer is here, love. Summer

                         Is here.

 

I know you will don your T-shirt,

Do your head in a ponytail, wear your short pants

And sneakers, and dance in the sun

Like a rose, yes, dance in the sun like a rose.

For summer is here, love. Summer is here.

 

I know you will laugh like a rose in the sun,

Laugh like a rose in the sun. O love, laugh

Like a rose in the sun, for summer is here.

And if you see a laughing rose in the sun,

Pick it up and smell its fragrance.

It is my gift to you, O love, it is my gift

                To you.

 

And, so, dance in the sun, love.

Dance in the sun, for summer is here.

And spread the sunny breath of heaven,

O love, spread the sunny breath of heaven.

And when the sun stoops low to do a waltz,

Dance in the sun, love. Dance in the sun.

And spread the infectious laughter of heaven

To all you meet. For summer is here, love.

              Summer is here.