New Moon April 27, 2025

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Once the entire world is yourself,

What could a life of solitude add?

           —Mahadeviyakka, 12^th century (trans. Jane Hirshfield)

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You are the wild iris of this moment

This world is all fog, all sun

White flower petals on green stems

An icy brown plain of opened catkin

By the stream you come in my perfect need

Up from hidden clefts in shadowed canyon

Close upon the sensual changing day

I fall to my knees

I cry in your presence

You are my favored intoxicant

All merged, all banished alone, all reunited

You are the world as it is

Breathing viriditas as springtime waltz

Over everything, pollen yields scented frisson

Father of cups, mother of light on water

Look, feel, cloud presence, here! now!

A smiling purple nod from radish in the grass

Nothing happens without you