The Ballad of Heartfelt Desire

The Ballad of Heartfelt Desire

Dedicated to Richard Miller on his 70^th birthday 13 April 2018

I sat still, a little child,

Spread myself across the air,

I knew that I was so vast,

Beyond that speck down there.

More than body, more than mind,

More than a tinge of fear,

More than girl, more than a child

Who let go a lonely tear.

Couldn’t climb or run as fast

Couldn’t throw or catch a ball

Couldn’t add or multiply

And my hair wouldn’t take a curl.

A lesser body and lesser mind

And a growing bunch of fears

That I was just not good enough

And freely ran the tears.

Scarcely knew how deep I yearned

To know myself as vast as space

And so much more than belief and fear,

To be still in a state of grace.

Deep gratitude to the teacher dear

Who unlocked my heart to its goal,

The boundaries are blurring now

To the vast non-separate soul.

Tina Shettigara© 2018