JUAN

Here I am in the house again

    hiding behind doors,

    reading books,

    all the poetry of San Juan de la Cruz

    poet-saint, prisoner, exile

    tortured, tormented, disbelieved, persecuted

    yet somehow the words,

    a strange fountain of hope:

    Apártalos, amado, que voy de vuelo …

    Look away, beloved, I’m going to fly …

and these words:

    A las aves ligeras,

    leones, ciervos, gamos saltadores,

    montes, valles, riberos,

    aguas, aires, ardores,

    y miedos de las noches veladores …

    O birds on easy wings,

    lions, stags, leaping fallow deer,

    mountains, valleys, shores,

    waters, winds, passions,

    and terror in the watchful nights …

and these words, strangest of all

    strangely easy to understand:

    Saber no sabiendo …

    To know without knowing …

To know without knowing

    a life filled with dreams

    heaven unseen

    strange faith, strangely real

    strangely mysterious fountain of words

    source of hope

So I let my mind fly

    free thoughts lifting, unseen

    up, up, up to the inviting

    unknown