0006 The Constant Heart Poem by Michael Shepherd

The test is constancy –
the proof, the constant heart.

See that pair who walk across the park -
from the back, it’s difficult to see their age –
they walk as if there’s nowhere now to go;
for they’re so still, inside themselves; they’re joined
by that shared stillness. Now and then they glance
deep into each other’s eyes – seeing there,
a constancy. Their hearts – you see it – are at rest.

They can remember with an inner smile
how when they met, they put on every charm
to seek to catch each other for themselves;
now they dive, swim, laugh, at rest
within each other's still, warm constancy.
See them walk and laugh their way
across the park; across their life.

* * *

See now over there, the man who stands,
talking quietly, with observant eye;
a group of boys around him who
can think of nothing else but listening:
he’s still, he’s standing sure within himself.
He’s just too far away for you to hear the words he says;
and yet you know – he’s constant in himself,
he’s constant in all that he gives to them.
They’ve found a wise man, and they’re listening.

* * *

The test is constancy –
The proof, the constant heart.




(with acknowledgements to Shantananda Saraswati)