The Exorcism

The Exorcism

—inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda’s “In the Land Beyond My Dreams”

The earth is not our home.
Thou hast created us for better realms.
We have tied our souls
With strings of desires
And draped a veil of Maya
Over the only eye that truly sees.

The earth’s treasures
Cannot satisfy our souls
With their temporary pleasures.
Thou dost play hide & seek with our senses
Those clowns that entertain for a moment
Then vanish into dust as if they had never been.

This earth and all its peoples
Cannot add one inch of stature
To each shining, perfect soul
And though the brave and strong
Are often cowed by the weak and wrong,
Each Karma will correct each erring course
In time, in love with Thee.

This earth’s frenetic playground
Features folly and excitement
That each soul eventually must exorcise
From its ground of being.
While we play, life ebbs day by day.
Would that we learn to pray in the silence
Deep and pregnant with Thy essence
Until this phantom earth’s ills begin to fade away.