Ghazal of Seven Lifetimes

(for Tarun and Swaroopa on their Wedding Day)

Your steps now, toe by toe, in this spiral called love
Are light but sure. Your feet face forward, your shadow stained the colour of love.
Now hand in hand, holding tight to the newness of each other you
Are undiscovered countries, frontier land lush jungles of love.

What will you find?

Mountains, rivers, valleys, caves and peaks of love,
White water and black. The stirrings of wings, birds of love
Their nests the breadth of your chest. Your heart is pure: do not
Be nervous now, because today begins an adventure like no other.

Now begins your life of love: a sutra of pain and pleasure.

You should know: lovers live in each other, their kingdom Love -
I have seen the roses grow wild by its roadside. In love,
They shine with heat and glory; their fragrance, so sweet and light
Saturates the air as incense fills a shaft of sun. Rain upon them love.

Remember: the house of the world is built of love
Within its walls we bless, fret, sigh and whisper love
We sit by its hearth and open its windows. Beware:
You sow your soul, when your feet stir the alta at its threshold.

What shall you reap?

You can but reap this truth:
Two souls made one cannot be separated
As love from love, cannot be divided,
nor counted, nor weighed;
As you cannot be without yourself.

See that: You are your own future in love.
What you build is yours in the province of Love.
Let it be strong and selfless, passionate and yielding
Let it be full to overflowing, green and vibrant as a grove.

Says the Saint, “Who will unite me with my love?
To him I will give all I own, my very head in this game of love.”
When you hold within your arms the soft skin of your beloved
You hold the world, you hold the Almighty, all pervading, all love.

So hold carefully, and tight. And be blessed in this lifetime, and the next.