to know the other
connection                   not merely to represent the other
but to come into contact                      the encounter of two
that becomes one         distance is no longer far away
but is transfigured as things that seem remote and different
are instead exposed as complementary
                        the ancient wisdom prefigured this revelation
                        or should we say,         the ancient sages encountered
                        it in the intuition of reality
                        the ying-yang of the East, the paradox of Zen
                        the metaphysics of Aristotle
                        all grasping at a mystery that lurks below the surface
and man and wife are a drama of communion
a drama that builds towards a release of joy
that makes boys of men
all simple at play in the ways that couples contact
each other
child-like surrender                  not a pretender
not to be mistaken for pleasant masks
but a dynamic of love
that foreshadows the grace which descends from above
or should would say within                  or rather both
near as a breath in the lung but farther than the limits of a universe
all on fire with itself in a maze of energies and gravities
a network holding itself in
                        communion
                                    (to be wise is to learn how to love
                                                wisdom is not a desert             not a place
                                                of dry wastes in which longing is like
                                                a distorted face
                                                a confused identity that just doesn’t seem to fit
                                    wisdom is persistent in that it strives for the other
                                    in which the whole world becomes like a sister
                                                                                                or a brother
                                    wisdom learns not through conquering
                                    but through communion
two are separated
                                    in competing monologues        wisdom is the bridge
                                    not a thing, but a person singing
                                    or rather a person whose soul is like a song
                                    played in the little moments of friendship
                                    the wise man
                                    listens).