The Bride

A radiant stroke of beauty and delight kindling the sacred fire,
He is no more the same, the one who is caught by her glance.
Marveled by her fleeting glimpse, he rush forward to behold,
The forms that wore the rays, like a child after fireflies.
Once caught he finds her forms empty of delight and the fire he sought;
An eternal game of hide and seek repeats for ever its joyous rounds.
Calling back the luminous memory he is set on a mission;
He combs the forest, climb the mountains, dive deep into the oceans,
He counts the stars and the sand, theorize the universe and explain
Everything but finds her no where, an unknown, missing for ever.
He learns the scriptures and the sacred chants, shun the mind and it’s
Humming markets and become the empty vast nothingness;
He helps the poor, clean the streets, and build cities and empires,
Only to find the quest left bare empty of her delight lost for ever.
Hopeless he gives up the quest and relax for a while on a little raft
Floating beneath the stars in the silent bosom of the Ganges;
His breath one with the winds and thoughts silent as the stars,
Listening to the distant cry of the crickets and the splashing life,
He sinks deep into himself into his body’s throbbing density.
Merging deep into the ocean oneness, the silent stillness beneath,
He discovers the nearness of honeycomb sweetness, a silent joy,
A luminous smile, a crystal stream of pure joy embracing all,
A flowering radiance of the one whom he sought found within.