solomon

solomon prayed to God
to give him such power
that no one shall ever have

God said to solomon
if you can fulfill
the meanings of the sounds
of your name, SLM
then you shall have your request

SLM means "hand over"
can you hand over
all your affairs to Me?
can you abandon all desire
to have control
over others and yourself?
can you surrender completely to Me?

SLM means a "ladder"
would you allow me
to lift you or lower you
to any height or depth that I wish?

SLM means "unshared service"
do you pledge to serve me
and serve no one else
not even yourself?

SLM means "self restraint"
will you restrain yourself
from harming your soul?
will you leave all creatures
unharmed and in peace?

SLM also means "wholeness"
can you devote yourself
to wholeness and health
for yourself and the world?

when solomon fulfilled
the meanings of his name, SLM,
God gave him the power
to understand and to control
all creatures and all forces of nature

and solomon, true to his promise,
only used this power
according to the meanings
of his name, SLM

my heart's light

my heart is not moved
by big words
or small music

my heart will only dance
to a song well sung
strings well plucked
strings caressed
choir chords
well tuned

inside my heart
lives a shimmer
long kindled by sparks
from a source unseen
 
oh i yearn to touch the source
of my heart's fire

sometimes i have a hunch
who it is

sometimes i can feel with my heart
who it is

i'd like to see with my heart
who it is
that lit my heart
 
come sisters and brothers in the light
sing with me
dance with me
shine your shimmer on me
lend me some glimmer
 
i promise to breathe
from my heart, a breeze
to wake up the fire
and return the favor
a glowing ember
 
i am worried if you don't
lend me a spark
that my lamp would grow dim
 
i'm afraid
some corners of my heart
would be in the dark
 
shadows would sneak in
and steal my heart
from the light

eraser

when i was in high school
the english teacher
gave us a homework

he said: please write
a poem with meaning
about an eraser

i looked at my pencil
and its eraser
and started thinking

a friend of mine
a violin player
made a proposal

he said he has
a great idea
about a poem

he asked my help
because his english
was very bad

we sat together
and wrote a poem
about an eraser

the thoughts were his
the words were mine
and there it was:

"this life will test you
you may shed tears
after the laughter"

"i fell in love
she broke my heart
she loved another"

"how can i survive
such a disaster
without an eraser"

"how can i forgive
and cleanse my soul
without an eraser"

"thank you, dear God
for all the testing
and for the eraser"

the english teacher
said: the best poem
was by an imposter

he scolded my friend
and punished him
and called him a cheater

i said, dear teacher
doesn't your heart
have an eraser?

we meant it well
a beautiful poem
we wrote together

the teacher refused
he held a grudge
scorned me forever

i left the class
i studied russian
in the year after