The test is constancy – <br />the proof, the constant heart. <br /> <br />See that pair who walk across the park - <br />from the back, it’s difficult to see their age – <br />they walk as if there’s nowhere now to go; <br />for they’re so still, inside themselves; they’re joined <br />by that shared stillness. Now and then they glance <br />deep into each other’s eyes – seeing there, <br />a constancy. Their hearts – you see it – are at rest. <br /> <br />They can remember with an inner smile <br />how when they met, they put on every charm <br />to seek to catch each other for themselves; <br />now they dive, swim, laugh, at rest <br />within each other's still, warm constancy. <br />See them walk and laugh their way <br />across the park; across their life. <br /> <br /> * * * <br /> <br />See now over there, the man who stands, <br />talking quietly, with observant eye; <br />a group of boys around him who <br />can think of nothing else but listening: <br />he’s still, he’s standing sure within himself. <br />He’s just too far away for you to hear the words he says; <br />and yet you know – he’s constant in himself, <br />he’s constant in all that he gives to them. <br />They’ve found a wise man, and they’re listening. <br /> <br />* * * <br /> <br />The test is constancy – <br />The proof, the constant heart. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />(with acknowledgements to Shantananda Saraswati)<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0006-the-constant-heart/