Three Quests (Nov. 2002)

It doesn't matter if you're
looking for God or true wilderness
or the insides of your love:
you've got to search
at least three ways.
Query the same engine
and the same pages result.
First you rowed forth seeking
island to island the
descending rooms of a vault,
finding Orpheus astride
gray fishes and a sea god's
house ribbed with whalebones.
Then you entered the forest
of your desire where it
was darkest, with only
your red hunger to
light the way. Now it's
time to take the guided path
back from annihilation,
returning to the world
a simple boon. That chalice
that you found out there
heals itself returning
to the lips of those who
need it most. Actually,
the third way isn't a
search at all: rather we translate
what we found in letting go,
filling the page with
loaves and fishes
from heaven's deep.