Only One... How Many Are You?

You Ask Me

(..."And the fire and the rose are one." -- T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets)

You ask me
how many am I?
You give me no time
to think, before
you say that you are
only one... but why
should I aspire
to be reduced as you
I wonder? You say,
I am like the many leaves
rustling in the branches
of the forest trees, when
a single petal of a rose
is enough... Enough,
I wonder again? You say,
when the mind comes to rest
in the quiet of the heart, that
is enough... You say,
the string of the guitar
quivers before it is strummed...
the flute anticipates the lips
and breath of one
who will make it sing...
and the rose blooms
for the single eye that will
surrender
to its glory and splendor...
You say, everything
in the Universe waits
for the end of separation
and the return to knowing
only one... You say,
it is time for me to learn
how to finally disappear
into the emptiness of prayer...
and to return
when I have nothing left to say...
Still, I said nothing
as I stood and walked away:
but with a heart now on fire
to kneel before a rose...

---