You. Are. Free.

[NikolaiI]

I have gone off the deep end,
for I swore you were there and I saw you
for a moment but were gone.
You walk with grace,
You possess what no one may,
In your hands, like a whip
rests all eternity.
You come and go,
and brighten with your passing
as the day shines brighter after you,
and every page is tossed away
like so many lives forgotten.
You've got the secret,
the wordless equanimity.
All ideas must come to you to find their validity.
Let me forget, let me forget the drama,
where one man tries to dominate another.
And in the silence, I ask myself
things I don't really care if I know
will I ever walk with your grace?

time has gone by, it was felt, and forgotten,
deep in the silence, deep in the soul,
there in your sacred garden you wept.
Surrounded by the enlightened souls YOU awakend,
who love you now, and loved you then.
An homage to you, our mother,
having once lost your mind,
you dared never return.
Now all is yours, and we all have come to know you as our own;
never again may we be parted.

As a thousand angels sing from every direction,
an angel-king walks you to your home.
At last you've reached it,
While the rest may only say "We're going."
You alone have gone.

So now, I speak with love - not my own,
I speak with the love of every atom in my being,
with every river I flow,
every star who shines above,
and every shore below.
There. Thus. Thou. That.

Tat tvam asi, and om tat sat,
you have returned to be.

[hillwalker]

Very profound and worthy of several re-readings to discover the depths of feelings you imply.
And that opening line for me is so brilliant - I just to had to continue reading from that point on.

[PrinceMyshkin]

This is the rarest sort of tribute one could pay to his mother, not only to salute and celebrate her, but to do so with such sincerity and, above all, with such elegance!

Even without my understanding one of these lines:




There. Thus. Thou. That.

Tat tvam asi, and om tat sat,
you have returned to be.

There is brilliance in them - the brilliance of naked, vulnerable simplicity.

[hack]

Thank you for this post.

[Hawkman]

I have read this several times and I think it is an amazing poem

"And in the silence, I ask myself
things I don't really care if I know
will I ever walk with your grace?"

This line took me a moment to work out because there is an absence of punctuation after, 'know', either a full stop or a colon maybe, would make the sense of it clearer to pick up at the first reading.

"the wordless equanimity.
All ideas must come to you to find their validity"

Catches the eye because it gives the impression of a bad end rhyme. I know it isn't but the impression remains as they both end with 'ity' and it makes me think of William McGonnegal. This is always a danger with multi-syllabic end of line words in an unintentional couplet.

The only other thing is that I had it hammered into me that to use an before 'h', treating it as a vowel in English, was seriously bad form. However, I fully accept that not everyone will think so. It's just part of my personal baggage.

Apart from the things I have mentioned I really think this is a stunning poem, truly deep and moving. Well done in deed!

Best,

H

[PrinceMyshkin]

The only other thing is that I had it hammered into me that to use an before 'h', treating it as a vowel in English, was seriously bad form. However, I fully accept that not everyone will think so. It's just part of my personal baggage.


Surely a heir to a honourable tradition such as the English language, would take a hour before correcting a honest attempt to use the language well?

[Hawkman]

Surely a heir to a honourable tradition such as the English language, would take a hour before correcting a honest attempt to use the language well?

Well the H is not pronounced in heir, honest, hour or honourable, whereas in homage it is.

Best, H

[J.D. Sparks]

I was surprised that I enjoyed your poem so much, as I'm not usually very fond of poems without a very definitive setting, context, etc. But I think you pulled off this poem very well and I was much impressed.


There. Thus. Thou. That.

Tat tvam asi, and om tat sat

Is this the Hindu phrase referring to Brahma?

[AuntShecky]

Well the H is not pronounced in heir, honest, hour or honourable, whereas in homage it is.



That's absolutely correct, as least as far as the two dictionaries that I checked. I have, however, often heard it pronounced as "oMAHGE," in a way that makes the word sound vaguely French and to my ears, a little affected.


I also wonder why the author of the Original Posting put periods after each of the three words in the title.

[NikolaiI]

Very profound and worthy of several re-readings to discover the depths of feelings you imply.
And that opening line for me is so brilliant - I just to had to continue reading from that point on.

thank you so much, hillwalker.


This is the rarest sort of tribute one could pay to his mother, not only to salute and celebrate her, but to do so with such sincerity and, above all, with such elegance!

Even without my understanding one of these lines:




There. Thus. Thou. That.

Tat tvam asi, and om tat sat,
you have returned to be.

There is brilliance in them - the brilliance of naked, vulnerable simplicity.

Prince I am moved that you like this so much! Thank you!


I have read this several times and I think it is an amazing poem

"And in the silence, I ask myself
things I don't really care if I know
will I ever walk with your grace?"

This line took me a moment to work out because there is an absence of punctuation after, 'know', either a full stop or a colon maybe, would make the sense of it clearer to pick up at the first reading.

"the wordless equanimity.
All ideas must come to you to find their validity"

Catches the eye because it gives the impression of a bad end rhyme. I know it isn't but the impression remains as they both end with 'ity' and it makes me think of William McGonnegal. This is always a danger with multi-syllabic end of line words in an unintentional couplet.

The only other thing is that I had it hammered into me that to use an before 'h', treating it as a vowel in English, was seriously bad form. However, I fully accept that not everyone will think so. It's just part of my personal baggage.

Apart from the things I have mentioned I really think this is a stunning poem, truly deep and moving. Well done in deed!

Best,

H

You are right about that. Still there is an aspect of the poem of wildness, "having once lost your mind, you dared never return," of the sacred space within oneself that is not touched by unwelcome forces. So, I think I should actually leave the imperfection. I could not wish for anything more than to have pleased some of you by writing this anyway, so the end was achieved, even though this was a personal poem. I think an imperfection fits in with the character of the person being described.

About the grammar with 'homage,' I think it is okay gramatically. I believe 'homage' is sometimes pronounced without the h sound and sometimes with. At least, when I think of it as 'a homage to...' it sounds off - although with a stretch I suppose I could get that. And I would never use 'an' for words such as hospital, homogenous, etc.

Thank you for your suggestions and for your positive feedback!

J.D., I am really glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reading it.

Tat Tvam Asi and Om Tat Sat are two different sacred phrases from Hinduism, and they don't mean quite exactly the same thing. Neither refers to Brahma specifically as far as I know.

Tat Tvam Asi is translated as "Thou art That." I'll quote a sentence from Alan Watts to illustrate how it might be used. "YOU are the vast thing you see far, far off with great telescopes."

This short Wiki article explains Om Tat Sat pretty well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_Tat_Sat


I also wonder why the author of the Original Posting put periods after each of the three words in the title.

Just for extra emphasis.


Thank you for this post.

You are very welcome.