Whitewashed trunks

Whitewashed trunks

There is no hand to hold but Yours.
Every other comfort is fleeting and false.

Every other guidance leads down a road
where the bridge is washed out.

But when I am holding Your hand how can I go astray?
You are the journey and the journey's end.

In a thousand voices, You point out the truth.
Truth is banyan trees lining a dark road with whitewashed trunks.

O Silent One, You speak in the words of Rumi and Hafiz,
          Vivekananda, Thich Nhat Hanh,
in Eckhart, Suzuki and Ramana Maharshi.

You speak in the words of the Avatar
rephrased again and again in each incarnation.

And, of course, You speak in silence,
in the beautiful, clear silence that echoes continuously in my heart.

O child of God, there is only One hand to hold.
Do not be led by charlatans down the garden path.

                       (from The Garden of Surrender, 2004)