Mace Hosseini

Temple

This is not the temple of idols, a house of God, Love lives here,
     This is not a place of pilgrimage, far far abroad, Love lives here. 
This is not a mosque, a church, a synagogue, or place of worship,
     This is not a place to cleanse, to brainwash, and defraud, Love lives here. 
This is not a tavern, where the patrons get drunk and unconscious,
     This is not a place to get high, and silently awed, Love lives here. 
This is not an inner space, separated from its outer half,
     This is not a within without, an empty façade, Love lives here. 
This is where all become one, and one becomes all, in harmony,
     This is not a place for this god, that god, in a pod, Love lives here. 
This is the temple of a soul, in its avatar manifest,
     This is not a possession by devil or his squad, Love lives here. 
This is where the black knows it’s white and the white complements it’s black,
     This is where the rainbows meet and greet, cheer and applaud, Love lives here. 
This is where the birds sing, the weeds bloom, and the flowers celebrate,
     This is where we all hold hands, the righteous and the flawed, Love lives here.

Mace Hossseini is a retired Iranian-Canadian engineer living in LaSalle, Ontario who writes and paints. He writes English poems in the style of classical Persian couplets and ghazals. His work has appeared previously in WestWard Quarterly, The Ghazal Page, and Eastern Structures.