Sanctity

Before I loved you and made a home with you, I had no idea
what an enormous task homemaking truly was!

And to make this real home of ours, I need no house,
no money, no furniture, no television, no refrigerator—nothing.

All I need is some tears, the water with which
each dawn I wash my prayer marigolds and bel leaves.
In those same tears I bathe the sacred flowers before laying them at God's feet.

Before you came, I never knew what agony waiting could be!
Do you know that waiting for you nearly kills me?

I love you and make our home, but where you kissed the parting of my hair,
there I feel no need to wear vermillion anymore.
I don't join the queue behind all those people
who do what everyone does, without understanding why.

After you came to me, I understood how essential prayer is!
Since you don't pray as much, I do it for you instead.
How sweet it is to pray for someone else...I never knew before!

After loving you, I've come to realize
I can no longer cause myself any kind of pain,
because my suffering makes you suffer even more.

I never truly understood what purity meant;
but since you touched me, I've learned:
I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!
Some touches drain purity from the heart.
Others, when they touch, bring purity into being.