It starts when one is young

and even long before

the searching, the yearning

for that moment

when your mother’s eyes alight on you,

or your father’s gaze

snaps into focus

with you as its target.

 

Two universes connect,

slide together, magnet and iron.

The chest expands, synapses spark,

and a fluid of ease courses

through the spine.

An assurance slips

into the amygdala:

“I matter.”

 

The seeking continues…

That man across the dance floor

with the sizzling smile,

his eyes suddenly rivet to yours

and no one else exists.

Or maybe it’s your employer,

who fixes you in his sight

and says, “Good job.”

 

A settling happens inside,

seeking ceases and confidence blooms.

Life becomes a waterfall,

cooling, quenching,

and you disappear into the relief.

 

Until…

it’s no longer enough

for him or you.

Maybe your child’s gaze

that used to catapult you into oblivion

shifts to his work,

and you wilt like a scorched petal.

 

One day, after the deaths,

the drownings in lakes of tears

the burning within the heart’s bonfire,

you realize the futility of the search.

 

You go without

and find little satisfaction.

It’s all for naught,

you surmise,

this world

and its broken promises.

 

But one clear day

the mist lifts

and your eyes

fall on the

One.

 

That gaze of the Beloved,

when returned to you,

suspends thought

and sends you above

the treetops and frozen peaks

the skyscrapers and contrails

the moon, sun and even distant stars,

into unalloyed bliss.

 

Always at the root

of your seeking outward,

it is suddenly here within,

this Essence,

more absolute than gravity.

 

You finally stop

running, striving, managing

because everything you need

exists right here.

 

It is the promise of…

immortality unmarred by any scar our bruise…

eternity stretching beyond that vast ocean of blue…

a knowing broader than all the writings of the world…

and a unity with God’s great exhale of love…

 

All sparked by the gaze

inward to the true

You.

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