grace

the desert knew
its own stark beauty
before it knew rain--
then it came
a ferocity
of life unimagined
a genius
of radiance
a luminosity
of self

which
with time
returned again
to the long dry quiet
the vast stillness of time
the ancient wisdom of great emptiness

of itself the desert does not dwell
on the experience of sun or rain or nightfall
does not look back on nor anticipate nor regret
does nothing but accept the deep hidden magnifications
of its being

we are not so fortunate
as eaters of the tree of knowledge
once having received
the unimaginable
unasked for
brilliance of love,
we know the terrible beauty of longing
the inevitability of loss

and so it is that,
living within the memory
of love's reign,
we seek endlessly in the heavens
for the grace that has always been here--
a nascent lover and shield--
deep within our own soul