April 20th, 2008

To a girl he lost
from the Gitanjali by Tagore

Lotus

On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas,

my mind was straying, and I knew it not.

My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me,

and I started up from my dream

and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing

and it seemed to me that is was the eager breath

of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine,

and that this perfect sweetness

had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.