Close my eyes,
Turn the attention within.
Muscle by muscle
Relax the body–
Drain the tensions
From too much living
Too much being
In the world corporeal.

Turn the attention within.
Here is a beach,
A shore of pure white sand
Littered with seashells.
Waves beat upon the shore
Synchronized with my heart.
Synchronized with the pulse
In my ears…
Slow, slow the pulse.
Step by step across the beach
Leaving footprints
In the sand.

Step into the ocean
Without fear into the surf
Merging with the heartbeat
Of the world.
Synchronizing my pulse
With the beat of the ocean.
Step by step down
Under the waves
Following a path
Of alabaster stepping stones.
The water is as air
I have no fear.

Down beneath the ocean waves
Count the steps
Till I have reached
A little round door
In the ocean-being.
I open the door,
I step through into
A garden.

Down the path into the garden,
Down by a thatched cottage
Ducks feed and swim in a stream
And a unicorn is garlanded
In flowering vines
Draped from a magical
Willow tree.
I stop to pet the unicorn
And feed her honey lumps
From the cottage kitchen.

But she is not the one
I seek this day.
On, up past the cottage
Treading a path perilous
I climb the mountain
To where Grandfather Dragon
Gazes out to sea
From his cliff-side home.
Here, I nestle
Between his fore-paws
Against the scaly softness
of his chest.

Here, I rest secure
Listening to the deep rumble
Of his steady voice
As he tells tales of past
And tells tales of future;
I rest secure, my heartbeat
Synchronized with his.
Sleep will be mine
With no nightmares
Tomorrow I will awake
Refreshed,
With the whisper of his strength

To live, to work
Another day, till I may return
To unicorn, to dragon;
To peace and gentle rest
In a world of joy and beauty.