No one knows the pain of stone.... its dull dream and slow lust.

Yet this is the halfway stage from man to singing dust.

No one could endure this state but for the Beloved's smile

Supporting, and urging one on mile after static mile.

This non-travelling is what is called the spiritual way

By which is made living the image that God wrought in clay.

The moon rose tonight in all her beauty, yellow and round,

And I wept for the chains of distance with which she is bound.

Nearness and farness: these are the only two words

That make sense to the lover: kisses and wine, and swords.

I could not endure distance if my Beloved were not near.

Yet the nearer I draw, the further away does he appear.

Then suddenly he is beside me pouring wine between my stone lips.

And in a moment the night and the pain is gone. How quickly time slips!

From ‘In Dust I Sing’. The title is mine.

Copyright: Avatar’s Abode Trust, Woombye Queensland.

All rights reserved.

Published in the USA by THE BEGUINE LIBRARY

Berkeley, California 94701