Elder beauty

Elder beauty  

Older now, I see it - the elder beauty,

the younger comeliness

ghostly about faces and bones,

the eyes, particularly.  Courage there also –

ah! the beauty of courage –

and patience that has volunteered

in our well-kept gardens.  Perseverance, too, 

and the consent of loss with so much gain,

continuing into our personal future

and that future’s ultimate demise.

Older now, I see the flesh give way

to the ancient, shining soul.

It shone through, Mani said

of Baba’s divinity.  It shone through. 

I see it; I see its subtle emanations  

in unexpected glimmers –

the elder, ethereal beauty I could glimpse

only rarely in my youth.

O child of God, what a bounty you have received.

And the Beloved is not through with you yet!