Walking on the stone paved walk, Green with moss, in this garden Within a garden, I walk towards The wise Gardener who tends to us, Sometime from near, sometime from afar.

Suddenly a shoal of angel fish rises From the depths of the pond, the surface Breaks, circles! So many circles begin To move out, each one a prayer merging One after another into the beauteous stillness.

From the rectangle of blue, a dove descends And begins to coo slowly as it hops across the yard To the birdbath. It begins to drink from the water. Sunlight flickers on the rain washed brick walls As wind opens and closes the clouds.

And knowing that you are all this And within all this: the red fish And the dove, the sun and the green moss, I still want you to sit by me on this bench, The flawless lotus next to a speckled leaf!

2003:04:06 10:30 FPC, Atlanta