Song of Praise

In the greatness and power of the storm,
I feel at one with the wind.
With the rhythm and rush of the sea,
the blood in my veins does pound.

The long grass as I run becomes part of my being,
And my soul sings out its song of praise,
Which has never had words, nor music.

True thanksgiving for the bounty
of the Merciful One consists
in the illumination of the heart
and the feeling of the soul.

Thus the beauty of this world instills in my soul
a reflection of the world to come,
And my song of praise reaches the limits of ecstasy,
'Til I feel that I must break free and
deliver this jewel at the feet of my Beloved,

And in my failure
cry out in distress...

* * * * *

The storm is stilled, the grass has died,
and the sea has washed away.
Night falls upon the land, and upon my heart.
Darkness, silence, and sorrow
envelop now my weary soul,

Its sour melancholy sings a different song,
a strange song, a lost song,
a song devoid of being.
And in its absence comes the thrill

of solitude,
of oblivion.

As the lemon, its flavor causes
the mouth to pucker and the body to chill.

Melancholy, my great delight!
Loneliness, my dear companion!

My soul now sings a song of supplication
to the shadows cast by the night,
And there finds a world of dreams,
a world more real than that one
where a body lies curled in slumber...

* * * * *

How to describe that feeling at dawn,
having cried, and slept, and awakened

a new being.

Cleansed body and soul by yesterdays tears,
All empty and clean to be filled anew,
By warmth and light and praise to the One

Who destroys all the old and creates all the new,
Who empties the mud to be filled with a song

of praise to the new...

Love - to be sacrificed
Wisdom - to bless

the hearts with a song

of praise to the One...

the One of our longing,
the One of our love.