As if blind, we feel
every hour
our way to You.
Weary, weak from fasting,
we cry out,
“Where are You!?”
At last! Heaven’s Gate!!
“Lord, let us in!
You must, must let us in!”
We, who dared storm heaven,
fall
subdued
in reverent silence
and wait.
The gleaming gates open.
As if blind
to all but Your resplendence
we feel
our everlasting way
to You.
Here is the John Greenleaf Whittier stanza (from “Hymns of the Brahmo Somaj”) to which this poem responds:
We fast and plead, we weep and pray,
From morning until even;
We feel to find the holy way,
We knock at the gate of heaven
And when in silent awe we wait,
And word and sign forbear,
The hinges of the golden gate
Move, soundless, to our prayer!
Who hears the eternal harmonies
Can heed no outward word;
Blind to all else is he who sees
The vision of the Lord!
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