My husband  is starting to look like this

Like a wild Ram Dass.

While giving blood on Christmas eve,

he told me that he reached out

and touched

the “presence” that was  in the room.

And the  people there,

turned to look at him

as if it were about  him,

not what was already there,

that he was just touching it.

 

Ram Dass tells a story  from his youth

of  living in an ashram in India

with his beloved guru, Maharaj-ji,

who advised him to” Tell the Truth and Love Everyone”.

One day having walked in the heat,

hungry and pissed off,

Ram Dass’s  anger escalated  to a full furry.

He was so furious at everyone

that he began to sob without end,

on and on

The Guru fed him milk, patted his head and

tugged on his beard, crying with him.

 

The tenderness of the  guru knows

that  “acceptance”  was already in the room.