Shiraz Bautista Poems

We are like two planes bound to collide
Tinting the sky with hues of blood-red desire
Our embers, a tapestry woven with grace
From threads of doleful devotion
...

Our wine existed before what you all call the grape and the vine
our rivers flowed before what you knew as rain and water
our gardens bloomed before you ever stepped foot into our oasis
...

This unconscious mind
my holiest of weapons
the sharpest of blades
piercing through this veiled illusion
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This temporal self
anchored by a pulsating vigor
distorting my limited perceptions
...

Here I am,
my spirit compromised
here I am,
the devil in disguise
...

I hear you laughing
you feel my passion
you feel my grip
in your hands
...

Although I am here before you, as a man put on trial, I feel anything but blessed.

I stand before your kingdom, guilty of defiling your sacred temple.
...

Oh beneficent one

Drew me closer to your divinity,
help me shed my mortal skin
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Oh supreme one

As I tread your divine path,
I sense the deceiver's presence
...

Relinquish me from lustful intent
let me not survive on bread alone
let my belief perpetually bloom
from the mustards seeds that I have sown
...