! ! The Lotus In The Heart Poem by Michael Shepherd

How many centuries of centuries and trust
did it take the lotus
to take that crazy jump
from the known earth to unknown laws of water –

to learn how to feed itself, to blossom,
to float on the water
without the water dampening its trusting, open petals?

That same love that taught it all these things
may teach that lotus in my heart
over centuries of centuries
or in one crazy, trusting jump.

*

[leaning on Kabir's ‘jis se rahani apar jagat men’]