‘ I am nectarean knowledge, unchanging bliss;
I am everywhere, like space.’

From Dattatreya’s Avadhut Gita chapter 3, verse 4 (ca 10th century A.D)

*

the realisation comes
that life cannot be traded,
weighed and sold

it is immaculate, priceless,
fleeting as a cloud
or a drop of rain

the realisation comes,
that love can only be granted
by the grace of God,
by a pagan covenant of mysteries

it is beyond control,
a wild columbine on the scree,
unseeded, unworshipped,
ravaged by wind, by torment,
yet glorious

Avadhut! there is nothing that compares to you,
nothing that matches the emptiness,
the far-reaching caress of your gaze,
your labyrinthine beauty
and splendour

arms splayed, supine,
how do I talk about this,
this love, this fire,
this marriage of heresy and truth,
how do I talk about this turmoil,
these mountain tears

*

Myocum, Australia 2017