heed ye, whom the high road calls
step not on this path without feet steadfast
and shining star upon worthy brow
for though exits there are many
only in darkness do they end
cast away draining doubt
let not hoary fear betray the kindled heart
and sleep not when the hour comes
lest you be left with yourself alone
beckoning silence shall descend
blanketing mind's fruitless wanderings
the deep tunnel laid open
no angel at its end
instead a shifting black
the terrible embodiment
whose mighty eye in locked embrace
finds no hidden place in our soul
for it is our cold spawn
shifty filth and ooze amassed
held together by heedless deeds
waiting for its alchemy
persist and win through!
arise the flaming spirit!
descend with fiery sword
a burning life amidst forgotten dross
resist not with sleep-shrouded will
by itself so thinly distant
but awaken deep brand of love
and spur your warming heart with discernment
find no victory but in transformation
no satisfaction except through service
brook no reward but humility
and see then, how you fare,
bright-eyed and wondrous being
for your battle is the song of us all
a meeting of temptations and furies
where the canticle of life blooms or fades
amidst the endless choirs of watchful spirits
see how one ardent human heart
facing its own frigid seeds of destruction
transforms the world entire
through flashing strokes of true self-inquiry