Deepest Want

There are days when I want

to hold my mind in my hand

and make an image

that only I can see

in a mirror that tells me 

I am whole, beautiful, and loved.

I don’t want excitement 

and pleasure or the company

of family and friends. 

I don’t want a book, music, 

or any material thing.

I just want to be alone

and still, in a long, deep rest,

listening for the wisdom

of the wisest sage.

I want to be blind and limbless, 

then climb a mountain

and swim a sea, 

feeling jagged rock move,

rogue waves roll away, 

and blinding fog disappear. 

I want to be held

by the stranger inside me.

Originally published in Kestrel