I am the One I have been looking for

Out of the bustle of the town
I enter the narrow passageway
leading to a stairwell.
Going down, the city noises disappear.
All becomes quiet.
I descend
until I stand before a tall wooden door
with many panels, but no handle.

A word appears on the door : Ave.
My soul bursts into the Ave Maria.
But it is I who is being greeted
I am welcomed and expected,
I am holy.

With a slight push, the door opens.
I enter a small circular room
with a tall domed ceiling.
On a table in the center
a book lies open.
There I leave my past behind
along with the suffering ones.

Effortlessly, I rise above the city
and up towards the stars
spreading large white wings
luminous.

I am only a slight silhouette
in the totality of being
the same and yet distinct.
I dissolve for a while
as in a silent dream.

Then, I find myself
walking back up the stairs.
I stand at the portal to the city.
I have my form but
my heart is a wide open cosmos
like a window to the infinite.

I am silent.
I know myself.
I will re-enter the world
but not be of it.
I am open and free.

Grace can flow
and Love unfettered.

Andrea van de Loo