First kiss

“The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and to know the place for the first time.”
T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland

Beautiful autumn morning
every day you think the trees
can't possibly get more brilliant
and then they do.
I drive down the street breathing
in the colors of the trees
driving past places I used to live,
get drunk, walk my dog,
fall in love.

I used to think that the beauty
of the mid autumn sun
falling through the trees
was all that was required.
Then other things got in the way
and I could not see the sun
the way it falls at that particular
angle - reminding us that suffering
will occur if we do not pay attention
to the beauty of the light amongst
the leaves in this present moment.

How is it possible to know what is
truly in the heart of another?
Wanting this will surely bring
great suffering. It is best to know
what is in your own heart first.
There is still great mystery in
this moment. To turn inside and
to know your true self, that is what
the light asks of us.

Stop longing after something
you will never have, never know.
Walk past places
you have lived, read a book, stayed
up all night, kissed someone for the
first time. Watch the leaves turn,
as they do every year, see that one
that is a pure burst of crimson.
And pay attention to the light,
how it slants through the trees
and touches us more softly.