Beyond Whitman's leaves - A new poem

One day you will have finished
your analysis of Walt Whitman,
your romance with Emily Dickinson

One day after you have smelled
all the red roses
in Shakespeare's sonnets

One due you will have moved
beyond the way Newton describes
even relatively from Einstein

You will have read each
parable that Jesus orates,
every teaching that Buddha sings

One day after you are done fighting
with all the atheists and religious folk
who want you converted


One day after you have heard
all notes in all symphonies
in every other possible combination


One day after you have covered
each alphabet, word, phrase
and every sentence made

One day, Shiv, you'll get your head
out of these books of paper
and look into the leaves of nature.