No Need to Explain

I am falling in love with the mystery–

all mystery–

from the novel to the numinous

from knots of thought unraveling

leaving stillness, wonderment

to the place of unknowing–

that vast and open universe

beyond idea.

I wonder as I touch the petals

of an evening primrose

if it is also touching me, if I am

birthing palm fronds and crickets

as I embrace the morning.

I am delighted not to know

where thoughts go when

they’ve had their say,

where belief weighs heaviest

before it breaks like an autumn

bough when I forget to hold on.

It is hard to stay open when ego

seeks certainty like a homing pigeon,

distractions float as a mirage

before me and names like apple

tree and elephant stand in

for essence. What waits

beyond the veil of expectation?

A pebble drops into a pond,

a rooster crows. a neighbor cries

for a lost child.