When the Rose is gone

When the rose is gone and the garden faded
you will no longer hear the nightingale's song.
The Beloved is all; the lover just a veil.

The Beloved is living; the lover a dead thing.

If love withholds its strengthening care,
the lover is left like a bird without care,
the lover is left like a bird without wings.

How will I be awake and aware
if the light of the Beloved is absent?
Love wills that this Word be brought forth