The heart's ears

The heart’s ears                                                                                      

For a taste of Heaven, a sip of the raw proof,

settle under a spire where they sing

of pearly gates, the breath of flowers,

the holy fountain, amaranthine bowers,

your heart’s ears to hear and follow.

Miss not the chance in your Sunday suit

to scramble up the mountainside,

lift to your lips the waters of Union

as clearly and truly as might be

brought to this realm by human voices.

And if you cannot yet believe, o seeker,

tear at the obstructions stopping up 

your heart’s ears, the sort of

small-minded, literal logic and reasons

that doom the soul again and again

to the ancient rounds of birth and death.

O child of God, listen to both music and silence

with the same transcendent ears of the heart.

(painting by Joe DiSabatino)