in the beginning was the word
and the word is satnam

words by many other names
only serve to obfuscate

but i want your words
i long to hear your true words

yes, all of your suffering and its meaning
all of your regrets and what they teach
all of the sweaty ecstasy of hot sex
and the mistakes made trying to complete yourself in another
the sickening heartache of watching your own child die
every moment when unexpected generosity made you cry
yes, every part of what it means to be fully alive
i want to hear all of those chapters of the common life we share,
events that reverberate and attune our human hearts and cares

but i admit (it is probably obvious by now),
it’s really your soul i am after,
not to possess it, no, far from it,
for we are joined in love for eternity,
which is quite a long time as measured
by the world in our immediate vicinity

i look toward you
and see in your heart
a shared recognition
of more than we are taught

i want to merge with you in this moment
to somehow share the miracle of tonight’s sunset
to see through one set of eyes this gradient light;
i only know that it is pure and beautiful,
coursing with life through our veins;
every cell is powered by it and
in this shared knowing i see divinity reflected within your open honest eyes

i see how you noticed the wind and sun dancing and singing in the ash leaves,
and how a pure golden light
remains burning in you forever,
an irrepressible holiness

words are insufficient
and unneeded now anyway
what was closed has been opened
and is now received when given away

©John Greenleaf-Maple 5/30/17