Sacred Alchemy
By John Herlihy

True sacred alchemy knows no pardon,
Innocent of having committed a crime.
Alchemy’s secret need not be forgiven,
Its miraculous unfolding taken as given.
Draw in a deep breath and you will find,
Transmutation’s effect lies out of mind.
Lost within a mystery of drapery’s folds,
With no account for the miracle it holds.
An alchemy lies within we must discover,
A lost grace of paradise we must uncover.

The miracle of change has seductive pull,
To turn raw lead into gold causes a thrill.
The spirit of alchemy takes no secret path,
Wandering an adventure to incur no wrath.
The alchemist learns from barbers, bakers,
From learned doctors, wives, glass makers.
In cloisters and farms experiments abound,
Monks, noblemen, commoners, all profound.
Seeking to transform lesser into the greater,
To bridge the gap of the created and Creator.

As goal to give up what is in our possession,
To make the journey into sacred obsession.
The journey involves the art of standing still,
Fuse fire into gold and fresh water to distill.
The color of flame and distinction in fumes,
The alchemist’s knowledge nothing assumes.
In the soul alchemy is sought after and found,
The key lies in effort to rise from the ground.
To merge shadow with light to be a rainbow,
One catalytic moment that we all could know.

To turn water into wine, base lead into gold,
Change the world in a way never before told.
From chemistry into alchemy, a murky brew,
The coming into being of a thing totally new.
A roll of drums and a trumpet blast of gold,
Transformation of soul as never before told.
Look at what I created, the soul said to itself,
The body now an empty bag to sit on a shelf.
Alchemy of life is burning lamps, eternal soul,
The future lies in the secret that alchemy stole.