Somehow, the words of Hesychius <br />have reached us after more than a thousand years <br />and from a desert place, Mount Sinai; <br />where he was famed for ‘breathing Jesus’ <br />(there’s something in me says, <br />that’s quieter than the pulpit..) <br />and thus, talked little.. <br /> <br />but he said (and this they wrote down, <br />preserved, passed on, quoted, marvelled, <br />sought to practise; succeeded.. or ever, failed? … <br /> <br />‘One who watches carefully over the heart <br />will quickly see, how the heart <br />of its own nature, is emitting light’… <br /> <br />and I’m sad; with that sweet sadness <br />when you hear of a beauty that <br />you didn’t know existed; <br />wondering, if one day… <br />or every day.. and how long <br />it would take, and whether <br />you, or I, would ever have <br />the strengths, whatever they might be, <br />to attain that state… <br /> <br />and how it must have been, <br />when word got round, and others watched <br />their heart, his monastery glowed <br />like a family of fireflies in the dusk, <br />as cool, as bright, as love bestowed <br />without the asking.. <br /> <br />Tomorrow, you may see me in the street, <br />walking a little more slowly than the usual; <br />rapt in a wordless thought, <br />discreetly glancing at the passers-by; <br />beyond the judging failure or success, <br />treasuring a sweet silver gift, <br />a cool, new beauty promised.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-heart-s-light/
