Saturday, September 25, 2010

A Basket of Fresh Bread (2)


There is a basket of fresh bread on your head,
yet you go door to door asking for crusts.

Knock on the inner door. No other.
Sloshing knee-deep in clear streamwater,
you keep wanting a drink from other people's waterbags.

Water is everywhere around you,
but you see only barriers that keep you from water.

A horse is moving beneath the rider's thighs,
yet still he asks, Where is my horse?
Right there, under you. Yes, this is a horse,
but where's the horse? Can't you see? Yes,
I can see, but whoever saw such a horse?

Mad with thirst, he cannot drink from the stream
running so close by his face.

He is like a pearl on the deep bottom
wondering, inside the shell, Where is the ocean?

His mental questionings form the barrier.
His physical eyesight bandages his knowing.
Self-consciousness plugs his ears.
Stay bewildered in God and only that.

1 comment:

  1. 'Self-consciousness plugs his ears' - what a thought, Ruth, and how true.

    ReplyDelete

At the request of a Rumi Reader, I have enabled comments, because I agree that someone, sometime might want to write about the power of Rumi's words. So many times they have met me in ways I just have to share, and so I want you to have that opportunity here. There is no expectation for comments, but please do write something if you feel the urge. ~ Ruth