She Dwells in You

Dwell in silence, be still.

Let not the ringing of those

dense and dutiful bells,

Which fill the sacred spaces of your mind disturb your true prayer.

For they know not

The delicate strings of the harp, nor the lute.

Dwells in truth, be honest.

Scatter the scriptures on the unyielding

wooden floors

And let them gather dust,

But not you.

Seek beyond the doors

For the pious man never uttered a sonnet of his own.

Dwells in nature, be free

Step outside and breathe, for the gift of air comes

from the trees.

Why make paper out of these gracious beings

When they whisper to you their own revelations

In the twilight breeze.

Dwell in solitude, be brave.

Halt the whirring of the machines and break the spells that you crave.

For you are skin, bone and blood, and love and dreams.

Don’t quell the longings of your spirit children,

Who wish to play in the dappled light.

Dwell in wisdom, be true

Let not the Guru’s charms entice you, nor his promises invite you

To wander in those dark and curious worlds.

Let not his words of scorn scar your dreams, or make you feel small

– forlorn –

Every pattern will unfurl.

Dwell in the timeless, be here

Wander so far away they can’t find you (the men in grey),

Leave behind the world of calendar days

By the brook or the stream,

Or be cradled in the boughs of the mighty oak,

Where she shelters her acorn babes.

Dwell in the moon, be her.

Walk alone and fall in love with yourself –

The stranger who you have never known.

Lost in her iridescent glow, moonlight bathing

You have returned home.

Hear the wisdom of the earth as she whispers

All the secrets of the universe.

Somewhere in London

Rigid shapes and dull lifeless structures

Cast shadows in myriad shades of grey

Eternal concrete paths

Lead us to nowhere beautiful.

Art reduced to a subtle brutality

And lost poets walk amongst ghosts

But you - a wandering warm afterglow

In those dark and dreary alleys

Your footsteps tread softly, slowly

While others march towards delusion