It was not gold that caught my eyes,

 

Aadil Ghulam Bhat 

Poet and Author

 

 

I shut my heart behind a door,

And hid the little key away.

I told myself I needed no more,

And taught my heart to turn away.

O Love, you quiet, tender thief,

You came when I had ceased to care;

You slipped beneath my guarded grief

And left your little light in there.

You did not come with bells or flame,

Nor wake the sleeping world outside;

You came so softly, without a name,

And somehow made my silence wide.

It was not gold that caught my eyes,

Nor roses resting on your face;

It was the kindness in your eyes,

The quiet warmth of simple grace.

Your voice was rain upon the roof,

Your laughter woke the rooms in me;

Your eyes held something still and soft,

A place where I could simply be.

I listened more than words could say,

I watched the little things you do;

And love, that I had kept away,

Found quiet ways to lead me to you.

My walls grew weak beneath your light,

My locks forgot what locks were for;

The heart that feared the morning bright

Began to open up its door.

O Love, I ran, but you ran too;

I fled, yet still you followed near.

I thought I walked away from you,

But every road led back to you.

And now I know what I once missed:

The heart may hide, but love can see.

I thought I had escaped from love,

When love was simply finding me.

Let the old door open wide;

Let all the guarded silence cease.

For what I feared would steal my peace

Has become the place my heart finds peace.