Where Was I Wrong?

WHERE WAS I WRONG

Vassilis Vitsaxis

On my knees, I came tonight
O Master, to your feet
With heavy heart and weary soul

I followed all the paths you said
But THERE, I never reached
Where was I wrong?
Where did I lose the trail?

You told me:
“Close your eyes to see”
And so I did

Murky became the sky around
And never dawned
That mystic glow of darkness...
The light stayed dim and grey
And I was frightened
Thick ivy barred my way
And thorny bushes
Engulfed
The pathway, one by one

What? You say
My eyes, were not closed tight enough?
And let deceiving light
Creep through the body’s flaws?

Echoes from far away
Flavours and fragrances of kisses lost
Sweet thrills and tender dreams
And memories...

How can I chase away
these memories?

Which like a herd
Seeking refuge at noon
Beneath a shady tree,
Lie still, unreachable
Behind the eyelids

You told me:
“If inner light was failed you
Follow the arduous tracks”.

I trod the stony ways
And rocky uphill trails
I plunged into the swamps
And wandered deep
In desert’s thirsty waves of sand
Which roll in ripples
Motionless...

What? you say,
There are not many obstacles
Along the lonely paths.
It is more difficult to walk upright
On highways in the valley
Where, throngs the human flock
And stumbles
Not the striving foot
But the unresting soul....

how can I skirt
The, hidden pitfalls on my way?
Amidst the dust
That lift the trampling hooves

You told me
“If you cannot seal in
Unspoiled
The light of darkness...
If you cannot remain serene
And walk amidst the swell of life
Then...Love...Embrace.....Offer yourself’
Wide open, I stretched forth my arms
I wept with others’ tears
I bled
From wounds of other bodies
And even shared
- How much more difficult it was ­
A happiness not mine,
What? you say
Too narrow was my love?
And left out of its reach
So many,
Flowers and birds and trees and stars
As if they were not all
Sparks from a single fire
A golden flow of rays
From one and only Sun!

Too narrow was my heart
Not like the bosom of the sea
Which gathers to itself
All rivers, rains and drops of dew
All water!
No matter whence it comes.

Master,
I tried my best
And if I erred
- Being human -­
I shall begin anew
What?
Can it be true
That I arrived
And yet am not aware.