To dance with the Devas,
Silk-robed in moonlight,
Wild hide
Ragged glistening
As the flames tumble and rise;
To fall
Within the spiralling cycles
Of birth, death,
Darkness, light,
Held and helpless
In the arms of time;
To consent to bear a humble place
Here amidst the wonders,
Brother to mud
Root and stone,
Servant to simple joys;
To let the shell of self
Be broken open
By the Earth's embrace,
Torn by winter’s cold fingers,
Cracked by summer’s gold blaze;
To welcome only the forever-given gifts
Of the wide and nourishing land—
Clean fruits that bless
The alter of heart and hands;
To surrender,
O to surrender
To the grace of textured ground,
Wilfully fated
To the elemental exigencies
Of this
Our home,
This body of bone
And mind of dreaming sky.
— Hear the prayer
Of a hollow reed,
Singing softly
Beside the gently rippling lake.
Wealth of starlight,
Rivers of salt tears,
Fragrant humus
Endlessly renewed.
