A Second Look
on the corner of Normal Road
and wait in my whites
for a goodnight glimpse
of Guru's face.
Night air feels suspended
as breath becomes
in deepest meditation.
After a week of Celebrations
I fold inward easily
as water entering into water,
as easy as now
into ever and ever
until at last I see
a car slowly ascending.
His headlights pierce all darkness,
the engine hums an extended aum,
and miracle of miracles Guru is
mere feet away for several stretched seconds.
Whites of his eyes loom large
in his smooth mocha skin.
He looks straight into me
till I am an ember
in the pyre of his pupils,
and all dissolves:
the street, the car,
the broad leaf catalpa tree,
the ticking of time's engine.
All is absorbed in one
looking at one looking
at One
until time turns over once more,
night reassembles around my whites,
and the car moves ahead
under the dark green leaves
as Guru turns back smiling
and looks at me again.
Derek (Vancouver)