A New Heart

Join me, friend, on this path. You do not know me, but I see in your eyes a question.
This path is worn smooth from many who have come with questions.

Look ahead. Do you see that light? That is where we’re going. Yes, I’ve come this way.

I see you are carrying a burden and you are weary. Let’s rest here in the shade and
you can lay it down for a while.

How free you must feel without its weight! Do you still have a use for it? Are you
carrying it for someone?

I, too, carried many burdens. I forgot their weight, so familiar had these burdens become.

There is a safe place ahead near the river. Oh, that glorious sound! Do you hear it?
Its music feeds this beautiful flower that blooms along the way. Its silver song rains
peace upon the thirsty soul. Listen…

Indelible this loyalty
upon my heart.
Kin, more than blood –
our will to be true.

Exact this measure
of courage to defend
the justice good serves.
Eye to eye, we agree
the cost keeps us honest,
better than the wages
of land or sea.

We navigate this
invisible course –
the compass point
draws us, fear or no.
Brave comrades,
indelible your mark
upon my soul.

Silence is huge
when it holds
every word that
is not said;
every dream
that reaches
beyond what is.

It is an honor
to hear what
you do not say
and to know
your dreams are
in the Hands of
the Divine.

Somewhere along the way
I took a path a little off
from the one that was
well-worn in a clear direction.

This path is covered with
vines, and branches lean
over it so that I need
to hold them aside
to see where it leads.

I am not alone here.
My companions are the
true keepers of peace.

From the trees
I learn to reach
beyond myself
and aspire.

From the flowers
I learn the surrender
of pure beauty.

From the river
I learn the power
of my Source.

From the little birds
I learn the song
of joy.

From the wind
I learn to trust what
I cannot see.

From the sun
I learn the blessing
of life that’s good.

And from God
I learn to love,
above all.

Under your hands
my body is newly turned
earth. With every touch
a seed is planted,
cultivating pure life.

Beneath my skin
lies the knotted root,
lost along its way to
rivers of energy
promised at birth.

Within this touch
I seek to feel the
movement of One mind
and heart – this
memory of Light.

Our first connection to transformation
cannot be predicted. We may imagine
the what, when, where, and how, but
we must bide for its reality to dawn.

When we go about the business of
minding the millions of details
surrounding each moment, the
miracle gathers itself from
the fragments of love sown
about our feet. The path, blazing
with golden light (if only we could see!),
grows up around us; perhaps we
grope along, yet each step
makes the next appear.

There is no fanfare, no one may
notice, then, we emerge from
the darkness to find our Self –
knowing which way to go.

I half-listen to the whispering
of my heart, catching a word
here and there,

my eyes focus
on the soundness
of it in the moment,

until something possesses
the rhythm of my breath –
measure for measure –

as the Hand of Love writes
its law upon my soul

and language falls away.

Consciousness is built upon a common ground, a genus of thought that emerges from the whole of human civilization as if orchestrated by a single Mind. Externalities are insignificant – the whispered “yes” heard in the room makes it impossible to go back to unconsciousness, indifference.

At this ground zero we find our individual voice, separate from nations, classes, families, religions; we find the “I” we share with all humanity – home at last.

In the landscape of faces,
yours is so familiar
I wonder: is it a meeting
of strangers?

Feelings crowd around,
vying for attention.
I watch from a distance,
each safely unnamed.

The colors of unshed
tears paint your face,
softly fading into the beauty
I see everywhere.

I’m jealous of all the
things you cannot speak,
that hold your attention,
so well guarded.

And then, I see the joy
belonging to souls who know
the love between them –
a secret everyone knows.

Amada Reza
February 13, 2011

True Arrow

Love flies from our heart,
a true arrow we do not loose
with our own hands.
Helpless, we watch
that arrow fly, again
and again.
Courage/fear, patience,
joy/grief, hope/despair,
trust and faith –
these grow our heart
big enough to withstand the storms.
Until we come to that day
we have only enough to carry us
to the end, happy
with what we’ve given away,
happy to give the last thing we have –
Love.