The song fills the body
going down through the soles
to connect into the earth.
Songs from the crown of the head
and the soles of the feet
are equally authentic.

Tuning up it says:
We are all carrying the maximum load
allowable by Law.  Everyone is burning at the edge
and beyond, so the unexplored
may be illuminated.

What a terrible delight the truth is.
Neither ecstasy nor suicide can reach it.
It destroys only what seemed real.
It destroys all that suffers.
It displays the perfect justice of boundless space.

Truly naked beneath this worn old body,
embarrassed by the trappings of flesh and word
I bow again and again
hoping to catch a glimpse
of grace on the rise.

Stephen Levine is the bestselling author of A Gradual Awakening, Who Dies?, Meetings at the Edge, Healing into Life and Death, Guided Meditations, Embracing the Beloved, A Year to Live, Turning toward the Mystery, and Unattended Sorrow.  This poem comes from his new book, Breaking the Drought:  Visions of Grace, of which Roshi Joan Halifax writes, "This is a gorgeous book, a book of powerful images, experience, beauty, and wisdom.  Stephen Levine has always told the truth; now he does it with the great beauty of his poetry ringing in our hearts."

See also:
"Seeing her face this morning..."
"There is an elemental love"
"Mother of us all"
"This awkward speck of dust"