Comments on Gibran's "Love"

This poem was very important to me several years ago when I was going through a difficult period of internal and external turmoil in my life. His view of love is very powerful and probably seems extreme to many people. Today, for me, this poem relates more to my meditation practice. My personal life is much smoother, not so many swords among the pinions. But I struggle in meditation. I struggle to allow myself to be ground to whiteness, to be kneaded, to dissolve into my koan, into the universe, to know true love.

Here is a poem I wrote during that difficult time. Perhaps an answer to Gibran while grappling with the uncertainties in my life.

Earthquake

My life is going to change again
I know it
And my mind knows it
Of course
A change like so many before
Another day
A sunrise
A rainstorm
A scar
Or, perhaps,
A caress
She knows it
Sees it for what it is
Another event
Life experience
Nothing less
Nothing more

My life is going to change again
I feel it
And my heart feels it
A small
Tremor, and a deep panic
Tells that another change
A crashing
A shaking
A destroying
Earthquake
Will blow apart
This small, tidy pile
She has made
From the shattered
Fragments
Left after
The change before

Copyright 2004 Tinne