Presence

song-poem by Ken Holmes, Summer 2011

Some things are universal, even though we each interpret them in our own ways. One of them is, for many people, I think,
a veiled sense of "presence". This song is for everyone. For some the presence may be God, or a parent, or a dead or distant
friend or lover. For me it is buddha-nature. The tune for this is a little strange: it just came out like that!

Lyrics

How many hours, how many days
How many years, no one can say,
For how many lives and in how many ways
Have you been there standing by my side?

Closer than a shadow, closer than the breath,
Closer than my blood, my bones,
Closer than my flesh
Companion forever, no matter what the rest

The planets conspire; their seasons come and go,
Rivers dry up ... yet sometimes they flow
Somewhere behind the vast kaleidoscope,
You’ve always been the sunlight’s glow

Closer than a shadow, closer than the breath,
Closer than my blood, my bones,
Closer than my flesh
Companion forever, no matter what the rest

You’re such a mystery, guess that’s the way it has to be
But when I close my eyes, you’re the one I hope to see
It sounds too banale but only with you can I be free
Beautifully, beautifully, beautifully free

Image: "Memories of Balkh & Uddiyana", Ken Holmes