A Thousand Sacred Symbols
In droves before us,
The wonderful expanse on and on afore us;
In verdant fields, running pastures,
Scurrying streams like playfulness
The Paris Midnights
Where we might stop a moment,
And see the little firmament
Shining little squire, companion
On this journey,
Till we return to clubs and cages
Busy with the meat of life;
The intellectuals and excitement,
Hagia Sophia,
Valiant little cousin-
Of Ahmed the Blue
The great sultan Camii,
-You are not lesser little Ayasofya
The two of you,
Shadowing the Grand Bazaar
In the sandy daylight
That is all the world sees you in,
The New York Nights
All the little stars speeding
Towards the meaning of life
Unsleeping beacons,
A monument to all we can do,
In holy Vatican
Like Paduan Pastures
Where we may pause a moment,
And lie suspended
In the grace of nature,
Lips parted in wordless supplication
The pagodas in and cherry blossoms
In Huangzhou and Kyoto,
Out to the far mountains,
Still, for a moment,
An oath to cease swirling petals,
In the Raj,
In Bombay and Agra,
Off the tired solemn walls
Of the red fort,
The purity of the Taj,
The blissful floating
Of Quetzalcoatl's city,
The plump, dancing spires
Of Kiev and the Kremlin,
Among tall Ivan and St. Basil,
The quiet suburbs of the second city
Where the simple stories
Are acted out,
Day by day,
We wonder and ask perhaps;
Why? What does it all mean?
That we have lived,
And a wonderful thing,
Smiles the Universe,
And sighs its tremendous sigh...
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