The Riddle by Thomas Merton

This is the English translation of Merton's poem "Le Secret" by Br. Paul Quenon

I might be defined

The imaginative kind.

My life is charmed,

Untouched by harm.

Fast or slow

Off I go

To view the scene

On cloud serene.

What secret I've read

I've left unsaid;

It'd make you smile,

Or puzzle awhile.

My naked heart

Betrays no art,

With nothing concealed,

And nothing to steal.

Nothing to know

Nothing to dream;

I tell no lies.

In truth, my eyes

Are globes that see

All lands and seas:

I never complain

Be it China or Spain.

I've been around

And always found

Great happiness,

Tremendous bliss.

At earth's deep core

I've seen no sore.

And if I fly

To spheres on high,

Or visit afar

Some secret star

In depths of night

Though quite profound

- to put it right -

I would be found

To be

No one and everyone.

When I fly free

Of memory,

You should not yearn

For my return,

Or try to see

Where I might be.

I'm there unknown;

In nothing shown.

Without a face,

Without a name,

Without renown

Or any fame.

I am a strange

Enchanted bird:

God formed me - Love,

By his own word.

This poem can be found in the collection entitled In the Dark Before the Dawn, edited by Lynn R. Szabo.