The Garden Temple of Paradise

Everything is beautiful at this time of day, Following a quickening morning shower. And the huge orange pearl that is the sun Is just beginning to shepherd its endless power. The spirit of divine blessings carries me, In a vision, to the center of this sacred lush glade. There lays a stone walkway crossing a footbridge In a course toward stairs of rock on a rising grade. Then immediately before me, a shrine-like temple, With finely carved work exhibited on every side, It appears to be the craft of the Eternal Builder himself, To whom the fairest beauties of nature have replied. It bestows its stately head of glittering spires to the sky, Resting upon its noble structure of stone buttress and turrets. The remaining stairs, I bound, and through the gilded doors, Into the cedar and marble interior, a work of matchless merits. The artifacts are carved to satisfy the eyes of God, And, for amenity, a cruciform lamp high in the ceiling of the shrine. Comprising the interior are two large and lavish units, The nave consecrated to the body and the apse to the mind. The golden glow of the lamp exalted the light in my eyes, So I turned toward the door and gingerly stepped down the aisle. With head bowed, I walked through the gilded doors, Feeling the tender glow of the light on my back all the while.