Journey to the East

The guru was too fond of antithesis —
The further this / the less that —
For my hardened taste, but when we sat
Stilly I felt an unconcern for the clamor

Inside me that answers whatever
Cognition the world proposes.
An ant walked along his arm and he
Asked of it, "Who are you?" Stock sagacity

But he didn't move to brush the creature away.
Say, you or I are that ant crawling
Across a soft, somewhat hairy surface
And our instincts lie in our being alive
And that is all we know. What name is there?
What if great love is anonymous?

Copyright © 2003 Baron Wormser All rights reserved
from Green Mountains Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission