-- Close Your Eyes --

John Herlihy

We open our eyes to see our world sublime,

Nature offers us verses that always rhyme.

We see without seeing, as if taken for granted,

We exist without existing, as if poorly planted.

We yawn in the garden when we see a lotus,

Stars come out every night; we take no notice.

We live forgetful lives as if moving in a daze,

We make journeys to nowhere as if in a maze.

To see as children, where everything is fresh,

In harmony with the world, as in delicate mesh.

The past as excess baggage we no longer need,

The future as promise from our miseries freed.

I once said to a child: Your heart always flies,

All you have to do, she said, is close your eyes.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 20 June 2021