-- The Closed Gate Open --

John Herlihy

A closed gateway before us seemingly open;

We look back to see we already passed thru.

For one brief moment, our inhibitions broken,

To gaze upon the inner nature I already knew.

We see an objective world we make subjective;

Emotions paint pictures of sorrow and delight.

But inside our subjective world, things objective,

Beauties and truths, the expression of sheer light.

The closed gate there before us, seemingly closed.

The scarlet autumn leaf falls, of its beauty to tell.

The hidden message of the leaf is never supposed,

Drawn from somewhere within the leaf’s inner well.

Two realms that exist beyond language or identity,

The one outside, the other within, a gate between.

Words cannot describe the extent of the mystery;

We pass thru unaware, to know what they mean.

Once through the invisible gate, free to wander;

We can span heaven and earth in a single stride.

The earth does lay quiet under Heaven’s thunder;

Gates no longer exist in such spaces opened wide.

The heavens, earth and stars are all a single tissue;

To gaze upon stars in the night is to see the invisible.

They all exist in us as a reality drawn of a single issue;

The invisible comes into our lives by becoming visible.

Through the no-gate gateway lies a thousand ways,

Chances to lose ourselves in many thousands of days.

A gate before us with its secret, hidden message,

A gate not open/closed, only its invisible passage.

We have not yet surrendered, not yet passed thru;

We still stand there content, at the gate we know.

The gate seems closed, yet opened by a wind blew.

When we step into the beyond, our hearts will glow.

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(c) John Herlihy 7 June 2020