Tear

If your heart would be gifted
with compassion, don't resist sorrow.
One who calls pain an illusion
must still be tangled in the net of twoness.

Please honor these drops
of bitter honey from my eyes.
Weeping is not a dream.
Touch the wound in the belly of the master.
That is where he was born.

Now polish your whole body
with the ointment of breathing
distilled from dust and bones.
Every sigh is a boat of ancestors
who stumble onto the island of your presence,
thirsting for beauty.

Flesh is prayer
encircling the emptiness of midnight.
Be brave as a black horizon.
Ignore the kiss of falling stars.

If you dare to gaze
through unendurable softness,
you will find companionship with strangers
and see the countless faces of the unborn
burnished by one golden tear.