Golden Rule

“Speak your truth,”
she said,
“Put your hands
near your golden voice
and sing the words
gilded with rich metal
and shine from the place
you’ve mined
the most precious nuggets.

Like a crown of fig leaves
preserved and shining atop your head,
you are royal in robes flowing with so much light,
displaying the birth rite of all who believe.

“You glitter,”
she says,
“and the dust of the stars
must remind you to see the whole sky
with an eye for opportunity.”
The temples of the mind
already sing your praises
as you learn to drop your body
and walk away
into the freedom
of darkness.

It means nothing
to hold gold coins in your pockets
like talisman against your fate.
Give them away
to the Palominos
of time.

Open your mouth,
give Midas a gentle word,
and dissolve into a sunrise
of silent bird song.

In this place of nothing you will break open--
pierced by a single ray of undeniable love.