The two humps

I ran my hands over
the two humps
of a camel
one held truth
the other held everything I knew

I ran my hands
and they became tangled
in the space between
I only believed
one hump

I untangled my hands
to reach for each hump
and there they lay
on what I knew
and what I was meant to know

I stopped running
my hands
and gazed at the softness
and the ease
with which they stayed

I turned
my hands over
and felt
the knowing
and unawareness

In my unfurled hands
I received
the peace of certainty
of gentle mercy
in what is real

I let my hands
flow free of my will
and they cupped
the camel's face–
we were lost

I left my hands
on its face
waiting for it to turn
but it didn't–
it remained a camel

My hands on a camel
learned
that the camel stays a camel
and the two humps
make him so

My hands on the changeless
came to know
the two humps–
ambiguity, uncertainty and contradiction
truth, faith and wisdom

My hands on the changeless
came to know
that between the humps–
the antithesis, the polarity
lay love