The Knowing is the Peace

Grant me the peace of knowing

For the knowing is the peace

The understanding

That all things come home to your hands,

And that you hold them

Safe in eternal being,

Safe in love

Where the love and the being are one.

Here, a scent of flowers

Drifts to the sense

And memory, soft, awakens

Past the rub and the nub of things

To the heart that is waiting, waiting,

In the touch and the breath of its springtime,

Though we walk through all seasons and years.

Time is heavy, heavy,

And mortal shoulders droop,

Done down in the burden of being

Where love feels a little like drowning

And the birdsongs retreat into silence

That falls like the twilight of life

As harsh as the clashing of stones.

Only love can carry

Through the loneliness of our breathing

To the peace on the other side,

Where hope has wings,

And the kiss and the promise are one,

And the peace is forever.