The one who remains

 

You who are the wisdom

 

And the treasure – on the hill where bells peal

 

Life and death,

 

Death and life,

 

Birth, rebirth,

 

Or freedom

 

From the ever-grinding wheel

 

Of strife.

 

Gentle,

 

Brave,

 

It is you who stay,

 

Who live deep in the dens of the earth,

 

In the rain-dark soil,

 

Breath

 

Of all being,

 

You who stay

 

When all has left

 

Fled far on the crane-white wings that shimmer,

 

And you too who encircle the stars and the moon,

 

You who glimmer

 

Like the lily,

 

Soul bereft

 

That hisses of the ending soon.

 

You flow

 

Coil upon blue-hued coil,

 

Your hooded heads sway,

 

You know all

 

And yet nothing,

 

You sing the call

 

Of the lakes of eternity

 

On the silver wave

 

In the night of falling snow

 

And the peace of the dawn-pale petal.

 

Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.

 

© Sharon St Joan, 2016

 

Photo: © Mgkuijpers | Dreamstime.com / Arabian cobra