So Thin a Veil

So thin a veil divides
Us from such joy, past words,
Walking in daily life- the business of the hour, each
detail seen to:
Yet carried, rapt away, on what sweet floods of other
Being:
Swift streams of music flowing, light far back through
all Creation shining,
Loved faces looking-
Ah! from the true, the mortal self
So thin a veil divides!

- Edward Carpenter
(in memory of my son, Canaan 10/2/03- never have I been so close to death, so close to touch it. heaven was close enough to touch- like a thin veil. reach out and brush it aside. i love this poem)