something jewelled slips away

round the next bend with a splash

laughing at the hands i hold out

only air within their grasp

all you can do is praise the razor

for the fineness of the slash

i see the Rose above the sky

opens

and the light behind the sun

takes all



gutless arrogance and rage

burn apart the best of tries

you carry the weight of inherited sorrow

from your first day till you die

toward that hilltop where the road

forever becomes one with the sky

i see the Rose above the sky

opens

and the light behind the sun

takes all



ozone on the midnight wind

got me thinking of the sea

and the mercies of the currents that brought

me to you and you to me

and in the silence at the heart of things

where all true meetings come to be

i see the Rose above the sky

opens

and the light behind the sun

takes all



(Ottawa August/79)