Your heart’s desire
As though in a dream, wandering the land,
I come across a shrine, and enter in.
An old man sits silently and smiles.
A question bubbles up within me
and floats into the space between us:
‘How can I be happy?’
I hear only kindness in his voice:
‘Wait a little in this place, and consider:
What is your heart’s desire?’
In the pause, I know the answer
is not about more holidays.
And then into the silence,
a voice begins to sing sweetly
bringing happiness to the room;
it is my heart, answering for herself:
‘I wish to give love, on and on,
more and more, without stint.
I wish to be wide open to the joy
of this immeasurable life.
I wish to be with God again,
beyond words, as love.’
The old man fades, as does his smile,
the room too disappears, as though in a dream.
The echo of the song remains.