Ode To My Addiction

I could not rid myself of addiction,

so I transmuted my craving

into longing for your face.

I thought that the hollow in my chest

could only be veiled by the smoke 

of Habana robustos, the oaky bouquet 

of the reddest wine. Now the fragrance 

of the merest breath delights me

with the musky finish of your love.

Emptiness has ripened into thanksgiving.

Longing itself is inebriation.

For I have met the Friend whose glance

changed everything.

Solitude became our wedding, night

a darker sweetness than desire.

I have too many radiant centers now to be alone.

Silence has been swallowed up

in the music of namelessness.

I follow the sacred scripture of my body.

In my flesh there are no don’ts.

Wandering in the wilderness at midnight, 

I trust in the candle of breathing, 

and need not see far. I just step 

into the next lit pool of stillness.

There is no better time than this moment

to depart from the kingdom of fear

and set out for the golden palace where 

we all learned to dance before we were born.

This breath is given, not taken.

Your undulation polishes my golden cup.

You flow into me, and I flow over my rim,

dissolving in the self-luminous heart

that spins around all other hearts.

I think I’ve been praying for a thousand lives

to the one I Am, who holds me like a jar

and pours the distant stars out of my crown.

O you who are crazy, foolish, naked, lost,

you alone can taste these words.

You alone are worthy to beg

for more.

 

Photo by Kristy Thompson