Universal Splendor

All was arranged like an orchestral chamber,

The music - synthesis of heart and mind.

The symphony of universal splendor

Was ringing through the ears of all mankind.



Who was the judge, and who was the contender?

Who won, who lived, who fell, who bled, who died?

All this is known to universal splendor 

As manifest in nature and mankind.



It was not long before, as I remember

That good and evil had been ill-defined

Until the light of universal splendor

Came blazing into eyes of all mankind.



As I's and You's are put into a blender

And blades bleed them to blackness as they grind,

The smashing arm of universal splendor

Descends upon the nature and mankind.



In inspiration comes the soul's defender

And as it burns on every side, I find,

The glory of the universal splendor

Invigorates the hearts of all mankind.



In states like this, you cannot sit or stand or

Attempt to see - You'll utterly go blind:

Such is the flame of universal splendor

That vitalizes nature and mankind.



You look at galaxies, and you surrender

To universe so gloriously designed:

You come in face with universal splendor

And its creations: Nature and mankind.



As each poetic spirit bears the standard

Of passion and of beauty deified,

Through them will blossom universal splendor

And through them reach the essence of mankind.



In heart aflame, abraded to an ember -

In heaven and inferno intertwined -

Will burn the truth of universal splendor:

The truth of love, of nature and mankind.


Ilya Shambat
https://sites.google.com/site/ibshambatpoetry