Pearls Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

I see the pearls below the window bars,
Beautiful and still, looking downwards
On this rainy day in July in monsoon.

Each pearl shines with light:
The entire inner portion translucent
Without the aid of ultrasound machine.

The gap, the spacing between pearls
Is unequal unlike in a chain, but makes
It looks simple, Made in Nature, out there.

Years ago, I remember being thrilled
Looking at a casuarina tree in Igatpuri
With a million pearls at edge of each leaf.

That was when I was doing my ten-day
Meditation course first time in 1990
And learnt about annapana and vipassana.

Since then when it rains I look up searching
For formulation of pearls outside,
Knowing inside and outside life is beautiful.

Staying in Radhanagari Irrigation guesthouse
In Kolhapur district, newly married,
Tilaka and I heard raindrops on metal roof as tabla.

Old memories and present pearls
Constitute life for me. Where does future
Figure in this: should it be allowed to worry us?

Time is a mystery: if everything
Is always present, then how does one
Envisage future, on the right or left?

From whose point of view? If I see stars
As diamonds, and raindrops as pearls,
Have I become alienated in a material society?

Behind the pearls, the sky is grey
Colorless rather, with a low sound
Of drizzling rain, but hides the star-diamonds.