I wrote this poem after a meditation retreat in the town of Assisi in Italy. Assisi is famous for being the birthplace of St Francis, who founded the Franciscan order in the early 13th century. The poem is written as a ghazal, a form embraced by medieval Persian poets and traditionally invoking love, longing and metaphysical questions.
Who are we beyond our name, beyond our earthbound form?
Who are we when nothing remains, no trace of known form?
A monarch reigns for centuries, then is stripped of their throne,
No longer king or queen, who are they in uncrowned form?
The castle of a wealthy man the tide washes away,
Who is he beyond the moat, deprived of all owned form?
A soldier leads a mounted charge that the white flag draws,
Who is he after the war, without battleground form?
For her child lost at sea a mother sinks in grief,
No more parent to be called, who is she in drowned form?
The name of an ageing woman flickers and is gone,
Losing her memory, who is she in unnamed form?
We inhale the last of life lying in our bed,
Who are we in the breath before burial ground form?
As the bell’s echo fades and the wind’s song passes,
I discover, in the silence, an unbound form.
Soulful Thoughts 