The Wisdom of Solomon I Would I Had

1.* The wisdom of Solomon I would I had

To attain fair judgment now and then

Whether to untie or cut a Gordian knot

To break or pull off a sword by its haft

At this unwelcome crossing of my life

2. How do I find the proper frame of mind

The serene equipose which still stands

As one in the midst of rendering forces

Equipotent vectors that tear it asunder

And cast it to the air into smithereens

3. Should I kneel or crawl before an idol

And pray until my sweat turns into blood

Weep until my eyes from tears get blind

Beat my breast ’til it softens to a pulp

My pose transforms into a Buddhist monk

4. Should I ascend to the Mount of Ararat

To pray for forty days and forty nights

Leaving all my belongings behind to fast

Except the mounting burdens of my life

Until I get cleansed and walk with light

5. To the inner voices of my whole being

To the untracked beatings of my heart

To the incessant ripplings of my blood

To the unnamed cogitatings of my mind

I listen and the missing word must find

6. From the musing and hissing of the wind

From the flutter of a butterfly’s wings

Straddling the swaying form of a flower

And from the singing of a resting male

I may get transformed and earn my gain

7. By the boundless dome of the endless sky

By the nightly path of a twinkling star

By the ever retreat of the horizon’s line

Between the edges of oceans and ground

I’ll chart the route of my life’s sojourn

8. Then could I descend and sit at my house

With my wife and companion seated beside

Holding the cut ends of the Gordian knot

The encased sword as a cane by its haft

To serve the fairest judgment whenever asked

*There are no such stanza numbers in the original poem. However, no matter how I space the stanzas, when it is ‘published’, the lines come out in one continuous poem. Hence, the numbering, to indicate the stanzas.