Koan
I have come to the koan
at the heart of all life
and of my own soul.
I wrestle with it
but it will not yield to thought
or the will’s effort.
(Yet in falling
I can fall into hope,
as to despair).
O give me this hope
of the gift of enlightenment –
awakening.
Into the still’d heart,
the quieted mind
(as on parched earth, rain falls)
Into the outstretched hands
cupped petal-like
holding the flower’s centre:
meaning might be poured,
chaos yield to beauty
and darkness to the light.