Satsvarupa dasa Brahamacari – A Poem from 1966

On Going (from the Storefront) into the Street

Lord Visnu, guard this boy as he goes out
or if You want me to die today, take me.
I can’t fall in the street or be crushed or stabbed.
That can only happen to the body.
Let me chant the Lord’s Holy Names
at the end and right now.
And here is my identity
in case no one knows,
a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.
Tell him I was on an errand for him.
But I don’t want this to happen.
I am only beginning to learn bhakti
and my heart and brainstuff is dirty.
I’m going out now, Lord Vishnu,
and I pray to stay within You.
All glories to You and to those devotees
like Swamiji and Narada and Vyasadeva,
who tell us how to join with Krishna
in the eternal blissful world.