ghazal: "these summer days"

Who're chastened will keep   this conversation   just between you and I
we're facing a deep   disintegration   just between you and I

light rain falls gently these summer days   long pool a'flutter with wind
we're viewing no cheap   poor imitation   just between you and I

where nebulous work   oppresses the heart   one hopes to push on through
laid flat by great time's   steep implication   just between you and I

child-like   we should love to unravel   what makes the big clock tick!
half-crazed to unwind   such information   just between you and I

what were you seeking? where fled your purpose?   everything drifts in flux
we're drawn to maintain   a slack expectation   just between you and I

at the Guanyin Temple   north of Beijing   pilgrims and tourists stroll
who straggle notice   her indication   just between you and I

sharing cigars at a lavish dinner   talk turns lively and loud
I fail to follow   fate's dissertation   just between you and I

people mention   the Sichuan earthquake   9.6 it attained
things pique surprise   or wreak devastation   just between you and I

in the broader gamble   my small wagers   turn pale faces sunward
does loving   differ from disputation?   just between you and I

I was slated once to become a doctor   page from some lost tale
who rips the page   goes soon on vacation?   just between you and I

who arrive in life   all naked and lost   become more lost than found
while obscure remains   the destination   just between you and I

joyous cries if few   in this market-place   where misery's banal
quiet laughter brews   amid ululation   just between you and I

you resign yourself to wind and rain   you surrender to time's play
does Krishna smile on   your resignation?   just between you and I

you tour the globe   but not as a tourist   atoms twirl as they must
Columbus loathes circumnavigation   just between you and I

born in the west   we abide in the east   if all the world's a stage
this play plots many a motley station   just between you and I

alike trompe l'oeil   the scene is stunning   why should sages dub it
the poster-child of prevarication?   just between you and I

held the realm of dream merely dream   could illusion admit an aim?
philosophers   love pure complication   just between you and I

who fall into   the weave of your story   feel the tug of your yarn
hook line and sinker   aid meditation   just between you and I

each day we attend sweet sessions of thought   each night we drift in dream
who gently frames   the interrogation   just between you and I?

July grows warm   I depart the office   sitting a while outdoors
God hides from me   when's our assignation?   just between you and I

this luxury of perusing the stream   is human   chirps the bird
the stream of thought   relates its elation   just between you and I

many thoughts emerge   many thoughts subside   questions fade or linger
nor book nor scroll   exhaust the relation   just between you and I

here Raphael mimics   a wizened man   scrawling lines in China
he's squandered his life   and reputation   just between you and I


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Beijing (July 5-7), Soho New Town
(begun while sitting inside Ai Weiwei's garden sculpture -- by the long pool)

The Guanyin Temple: more specifically, the Red Snail Temple (where, among other statuary, one finds a nice image of the "Guanyin with a thousand hands")