Classic Poem

I Am; and yet I never was.
I Am; yet I shall never be.
I Am Not; yet my pulses pass
From first to last eternity.

Brahma am I, and Vishnu too,
And Siva — maker, savior, flame
Of ruin. Can thy mind then view
Me who am Three and still the same?

I shatter cities in their might
And shape soft flowers of their clay.
I break the hundred towers of night
To build therewith the dome of day.

Brahma am I; I shape all things
Whereof the wisest mouth can tell.
I fashion from the mould of kings
The butterfly. And it is well.

Vishnu am I; it is my will
The stone should lie where once it fell,
The sun still shine to warm the hill,
The heart still hope. And it is well.

Siva am I; with scathing fire
I sweep the worlds like wind of Hell.
With all its web of vain desire
Creation falls. And it is well.

Thus through the courts of starry space
I who am all, who am the Three,
Cast on the dark of time and place
The light of Mine Eternity.