Forbidden Poem

An offering of love near Gaumukh

This poem speaks the precious truth
that may only be whispered in prayer
until the day this love can be received.
To write these lines is to risk the future,
and yet the sentences continue to arrive.
Every single night passing without contact,
without a caress, a kiss, or a knowing glance,
without a call, without a note or a simple word,
even when it is necessary, appropriate, and right,
is hard work for this heart, though it keeps beating.

This heart beats to fulfill the promise of a sacred union.
This heart beats to walk into the radiant Source with you.
This heart beats to sing in harmony in the key of two.
This heart beats to sail as one across the horizon
and to feel the faithful rhythms of your heart.
This heart beats to experience the rapture
of falling helplessly into bottomless bliss
and being caught in the palms of God.

You and I are plunging into the abyss,
into the sweet awareness of All That Is,
into the recognition of being the Divine,
one moment, one perfect song at a time.
This is the purpose, the teleology of Love:
to expedite the remembrance of the One
and dispatch separateness unto oblivion.
We are sinking inevitably into surrender,
stepping beyond what we have known,
and discovering our interdependence.

The day is coming, maybe very soon,
when these verses may be revealed,
shouted, and fearlessly proclaimed.
In the annals of Love it is recorded
that each being returns to Source
holding hands with the Beloved.
The time to amble arm in arm
must surely be approaching,
for my heart keeps beating.
Yet today I shall simply say
that while you are far away,
dwelling in a distant country
in a world that parallels mine,
this love persists undiminished,
unbridled, and barely restrained,
for the holy longing does not fade.
This love sublime is eternal, certain,
a ubiquitous constant in the universe.
Whatever ripens in the bursting of days,
my love is patient, sturdy, and here to stay.

This poem is part of a collection titled The Longing of God for God.