In Your Retinue...

Everyone is so eager
to join the grand retinue
of a journey that stretches far
Your palace gate to view

The sun gets up so early every day
wakes up all, the lotus and the sunflower;
the bees, the butterflies and birds in the sky
get us rubbing their sleepy eye

I for one who does not know how to fly,
nor has fragrance nor colour
to attract others in the company
wonders how to keep pace with any

May I be a ripple in the high sea
or an interlude between two high notes
or a dust speck thrown up by the storm
or be a shadow, if not light, to march on with all

I wish in any form to tag along;
when the journey ends at your palace gate,
even if you look the other way
I shall have the satisfaction that I was not late

I shall for my success burst into tears
and be choked with unlimited joy
for I was one of the few in the retinue
that meandered along the long time-line to reach you!