Foreword

Pebbles and Gold is a collection of the very first poems composed by The Supreme Master Ching Hai. Many of the poems included in this collection have been obtained from relatives and friends who cherished and were able to preserve them.

The poems in Pebbles and Gold were written during The Supreme Master Ching Hai's youth. Central to each is the theme of love, sometimes personal and sometimes universal. Just as the view from under the sea is richly different than what can be seen from looking down at the ocean's surface, the poems composed by The Supreme Master Ching Hai contain a depth of meaning that extend to worldwide humanitarian concerns and divinely inspired love for all beings.

Love and longing come on solitary wings,
Heaven and Earth wither in lovesickness.
By the roadside, a remnant of autumn remains.
By the window, a lone figure watches the falling rain.

Loves the river still recall its old shore?
Wild, untamed moments in an evening downpour,
A silky embrace, a pair of warm lips,
Love as ravishing as a poem!

If you leave, please hasten back.
Time slips by so quickly and melancholy will ripen.
When reunited, we'll chant the song of endless time,
Sharing joys and sorrows 'til our hair grows gray.

 ~ from "Pebbles and Gold"