Lines on a thought by Saint Clare

 “All the way to heaven is heaven.” (St Clare)

Please don’t love me when but while,

not when I arrive but while I climb,

not when I laugh but while I smile,

because all the way to love is loving.

Don’t ask me if I have but give me

everything I need to find release.

Every idle thought might be delivery;

all the way to peace is peace.

All the way to said is saying.

Only true faults need forgiving.

All the way to life is living.

Only silence is perfection,

Only death is perfect peace.

We can only bless by blessing.

Perfect joy and perfect peace

are not the province of anyone.

Every act is a beginning.

I cannot delay peace and loving

until we reach a better day

when all the forces will be brought

together and we can love at last that way.

And when I see you all alone

and looking far away from home,

I can see that –beyond believing—

all the way to gone is leaving.

Your eyes have left me even though

your body and your breath are here.

But they are only slimmest shadows.

The way to suffering is fear.

The way to ignorance is never

understanding what truth might be

but looking only leads to seeing

things you did not want to see.

There is no war that leads to peace

and no abuse will lead to care.

There’s no ship that sails on sand

or castles built in air.

All the way to zero is taking.

All the way to have is giving.

All the way to love is loving.

All the way to life is living.