Thank God for time
in this garden,
where I learned the shape
of an emotional body like
the atom of gold
they fired alpha particles at,
only to find empty space
and a dense centre they could never hit,
bar a few strange deflections
which hinted at the inconceivable
love gathered here.

All this washes through me
like waves of particles
without beginning or end,
alpha searching for omega
in the middle of vast emptiness,
origin and destiny held in the heart
which offers no defense
but love itself.

Yes, thank God,
thank God for this
open space, still time,
silent song of a stream
searching for its golden heart,
here, gathered in the garden.