tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90640156103190811232024-03-13T11:35:56.183-04:00RUMI DAYSDaily readings of the 13th Century Persian poet as translated
by Coleman BarksRuthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-72005062805653657712011-03-11T00:01:00.221-05:002020-12-14T13:59:52.203-05:00A Full Year of Rumi Readings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nWovXe4964/TV1LHIjcXHI/AAAAAAAAPoE/CLYJEPI6VJM/s1600/asure+web+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nWovXe4964/TV1LHIjcXHI/AAAAAAAAPoE/CLYJEPI6VJM/s400/asure+web+%25281%2529.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<b>Was there a beginning to this journey? Is there an end?</b><br />
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I began to post daily readings here from the book <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Year-With-Rumi-Coleman-Barks/?isbn=9780060845971"><i>A Year with Rumi</i></a> on March 11, 2010. Odd, I know, to start in the third month of the year, but what can I say, I'm a late bloomer. I have now completed a full year of posts. Rumi said:<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b>Do not grieve. Anything you lose</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b>comes round in another form.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b><br />
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As ever, I will continue at my main blog, the eclectic <a href="http://ruthie822.blogspot.com/">synch-ro-ni-zing</a>, where I express my own deeply felt connections with the world, as well as at the blog that the artful and soulful <a href="http://www.alchemistspillow.com/">Lorenzo of The Alchemist's Pillow</a> and I co-host, <a href="http://yearwithrilke.blogspot.com/">A Year with Rilke</a>, where the readings of poems and prose excerpts by Rainer Maria Rilke and commenter discussions are as spiritually resonant as anything I've found in Rumi. I heartily invite you to these blogs where you will be most welcome to read quietly or add to the discussions.<br />
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<b>I have loved</b> the quiet meditation of typing up Rumi's words via Coleman Barks' earthy and sublimely unpretentious translations, and I will miss the practice. But now, I can come and read them again, meeting them like new friends.<br />
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<b>You can still read daily</b>. <span style="color: #990000;"><b>You can enter a date in the search box on the sidebar to find the reading for a given day of the year. </b> </span>I have formatted the archives daily, so you can click on 2010, then October, then October 11, for example. This way, you can continue to read Rumi daily if you wish. Search poem titles, words and phrases in the "Search the Archives" box on the sidebar. Unfortunately, you can't search dates, since they are not in the text of the posts, and therefore dates such as "October 11" are not searchable.<br />
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<b>I feel obliged to plug the book</b> these readings are from. Click on the book on the sidebar to go to the publisher's page. The book is available online and on land in local bookstores.<br />
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<b>Thank you</b> for riding with me here in this caravan of rubies and sunrises, in which we stop off each evening in a different caravanserai . . .<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<b>Come, come, whoever you are.<br />
Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, come even though<br />
you have broken your vows a thousand times,<br />
Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair.</b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</span></b></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">~ </span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>The lines above are inscribed</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>on Rumi's shrine in Konya, Turkey.</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>Followers of Rumi call the day he passed away,</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>December 17, 1273,</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>his "Wedding Night"</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>because he was united with the Beloved.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>This epitaph is also there,</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,'Palatino Linotype',Palatino,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"><i>and again are his words:</i></span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #990000;">When we are dead,<br />
seek not our tomb in the earth,<br />
but find it in the hearts of men.</b><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
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<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>
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</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-72759521735192412562011-03-10T00:01:00.011-05:002011-03-10T00:01:03.983-05:00Buoyancy<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-afuDNjc7p28/TXI_ZrKUVxI/AAAAAAAAPug/CHC1IJcQgxI/s1600/saugatuck+063+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-afuDNjc7p28/TXI_ZrKUVxI/AAAAAAAAPug/CHC1IJcQgxI/s400/saugatuck+063+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
I saw you and became empty.</div><div style="text-align: center;">This emptiness, more beautiful than existence,</div><div style="text-align: center;">it obliterates existence, and yet when it comes,</div><div style="text-align: center;">existence thrives and creates more existence.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">To praise is to praise</div><div style="text-align: center;">how one surrenders to the emptiness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Praise, the ocean. What we say, a little ship.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So the sea-journey goes on, and who knows where?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just to be held by the ocean is the best luck</div><div style="text-align: center;">we could have. It is a total waking-up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Why should we grieve that we have been sleeping?</div><div style="text-align: center;">It does not matter how long we've been unconscious.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are groggy, but let the guilt go.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Feel the motions of tenderness</div><div style="text-align: center;">around you, the bouyancy.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-32759601745548322002011-03-09T00:01:00.007-05:002011-03-09T00:01:03.100-05:00The You Pronoun<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3nT5Pk5iQ14/TW_9aNv_ZsI/AAAAAAAAPuU/kpITVZAMDDY/s1600/apr+1+07+003+ps_filteredweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3nT5Pk5iQ14/TW_9aNv_ZsI/AAAAAAAAPuU/kpITVZAMDDY/s400/apr+1+07+003+ps_filteredweb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Someone asked once, What is love?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Be lost in me, I said. You will know love when that happens.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Love has no calculating in it. That is why it is said to be a quality of God and not of human beings.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>God loves you</i> is the only possible sentence. The subject becomes the object so totally that it can't be turned around. Who will the <i>you</i> pronoun stand for if you say, <i>You love God</i>?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-48622021091758771892011-03-08T00:01:00.010-05:002011-03-08T00:01:00.467-05:00The Lame Goat<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qI3XL6HTHjk/TXAGxYQ0FvI/AAAAAAAAPuY/h8arRnG5cWo/s1600/the+goat+crop+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qI3XL6HTHjk/TXAGxYQ0FvI/AAAAAAAAPuY/h8arRnG5cWo/s400/the+goat+crop+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Goat sculpture from found objects, by Picasso</i></span><br />
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You have seen a herd of goats</div><div style="text-align: center;">going down to the water.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The lame and dreamy goat</div><div style="text-align: center;">brings up the rear.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">There are worried faces about that one,</div><div style="text-align: center;">but now they're laughing,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">because look, as they return,</div><div style="text-align: center;">that one is leading.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">There are many different ways of knowing.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The lame goat's kind is a branch</div><div style="text-align: center;">that traces back to the roots of presence.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Learn from the lame goat,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and lead the herd home.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-3487816425152378752011-03-07T00:01:00.006-05:002011-03-07T00:01:04.870-05:00A Tender Agony of Parting<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y9qbYprnMOs/TW7rzK9fyiI/AAAAAAAAPuM/H_6rd9K6Akk/s1600/tree+sillhouette+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y9qbYprnMOs/TW7rzK9fyiI/AAAAAAAAPuM/H_6rd9K6Akk/s400/tree+sillhouette+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A craftsman pulled a reed from the reedbed,</div><div style="text-align: center;">cut holes in it, and called it a human being.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Since then, it has been wailing</div><div style="text-align: center;">a tender agony of parting,</div><div style="text-align: center;">never mentioning the skill</div><div style="text-align: center;">that gave it life as a flute.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-11753402874221074712011-03-06T00:01:00.006-05:002011-03-06T00:01:00.308-05:00The Milk of Millenia<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vD8eEssvWS0/TW7q_X1GaaI/AAAAAAAAPuE/6BywmM3AtmY/s1600/011509+frosty+cold+morning+002web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vD8eEssvWS0/TW7q_X1GaaI/AAAAAAAAPuE/6BywmM3AtmY/s400/011509+frosty+cold+morning+002web.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />
I am part of the load</div><div style="text-align: center;">not rightly balanced.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I drop off in the grass</div><div style="text-align: center;">like the old cave-sleepers, to browse</div><div style="text-align: center;">wherever I fall.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For hundreds of thousands of years I have been dustgrains</div><div style="text-align: center;">floating and flying in the will of the air,</div><div style="text-align: center;">often forgetting ever being</div><div style="text-align: center;">in that state, but in sleep</div><div style="text-align: center;">I migrate back. I spring loose</div><div style="text-align: center;">from the four-branched, time-and-space cross,</div><div style="text-align: center;">this waiting room.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I walk out into a huge pasture.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I nurse the milk of millenia.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Everyone does this in different ways.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Knowing that conscious decisions</div><div style="text-align: center;">and personal memory</div><div style="text-align: center;">are much too small a place to live,</div><div style="text-align: center;">every human being streams at night</div><div style="text-align: center;">into the loving nowhere, or during the day,</div><div style="text-align: center;">in some absorbing work.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-69458615690295190552011-03-05T00:01:00.004-05:002011-03-05T00:01:00.378-05:00Strange Frenzy<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YfBmB0gPa08/TW7qFId1-gI/AAAAAAAAPuA/sGkzLp95VbI/s1600/102908+024+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YfBmB0gPa08/TW7qFId1-gI/AAAAAAAAPuA/sGkzLp95VbI/s400/102908+024+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
There is a strange frenzy in my head,</div><div style="text-align: center;">of birds flying,</div><div style="text-align: center;">each particle circulating on its own.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Is the one I love everywhere?</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-37636215784622970612011-03-04T00:01:00.006-05:002011-03-04T00:01:07.186-05:00This World Which is Made of Our Love for Emptiness<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lnwd60RGU7Q/TW7pbN7ClCI/AAAAAAAAPt8/sOdCxZN3sp4/s1600/020408+008+ps+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lnwd60RGU7Q/TW7pbN7ClCI/AAAAAAAAPt8/sOdCxZN3sp4/s400/020408+008+ps+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Existence: this place made from our love</div><div style="text-align: center;">for that emptiness!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Yet somehow comes emptiness,</div><div style="text-align: center;">this existence goes.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Praise to that happening over and over.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,</div><div style="text-align: center;">that work is over.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Free of who I was, free of presence, free</div><div style="text-align: center;">of dangerous fear, hope, free</div><div style="text-align: center;">of mountainous wanting.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">These words I am saying so much begin to lose meaning.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Words and what they try to say,</div><div style="text-align: center;">swept out the window, down the slant of the roof.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-11617400004925172652011-03-03T00:01:00.004-05:002011-03-03T00:01:04.605-05:00The Tent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gNl5_vqMm6U/TW7jSDCrJ1I/AAAAAAAAPt4/7V5LXDfZSYk/s1600/hellebore+002+work+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gNl5_vqMm6U/TW7jSDCrJ1I/AAAAAAAAPt4/7V5LXDfZSYk/s400/hellebore+002+work+web.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Outside, the freezing desert night.</div><div style="text-align: center;">This other night inside grows warm, kindling.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let the landscape be covered with thorny crust.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We have a soft garden in here.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The continents blasted,</div><div style="text-align: center;">cities and little towns, everything</div><div style="text-align: center;">become a scorched, blackened ball.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The news we hear is full of grief for that future,</div><div style="text-align: center;">but the real news inside here</div><div style="text-align: center;">is there's no news at all.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-19749781683723311812011-03-02T00:01:00.004-05:002011-03-02T00:01:00.785-05:00There is Some Kiss We Want<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nQyarvCGpo0/TW2qHniu3GI/AAAAAAAAPs8/3-kTInnoRrw/s1600/WaterlilySepia2LR-6web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nQyarvCGpo0/TW2qHniu3GI/AAAAAAAAPs8/3-kTInnoRrw/s400/WaterlilySepia2LR-6web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">There is some kiss we want</div><div style="text-align: center;">with our whole lives,</div><div style="text-align: center;">the touch of spirit on the body.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Seawater begs the pearl</div><div style="text-align: center;">to break its shell.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the lily, how passionately</div><div style="text-align: center;">it needs some wild darling.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">At night, I open the window</div><div style="text-align: center;">and ask the moon to come</div><div style="text-align: center;">and press its face against mine.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Breathe into me.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Close the language-door</div><div style="text-align: center;">and open the love-window.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The moon won't use the door,</div><div style="text-align: center;">only the window.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-60677222917963988182011-03-01T00:01:00.001-05:002011-03-01T00:01:02.768-05:00I Have Five Things to Say<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0BC9EHawtzU/TWwT1U8Zg2I/AAAAAAAAPsQ/Qig9guvuF1c/s1600/011010+snow+morning+sun+009+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0BC9EHawtzU/TWwT1U8Zg2I/AAAAAAAAPsQ/Qig9guvuF1c/s400/011010+snow+morning+sun+009+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I have five things to say,</div><div style="text-align: center;">five fingers to give into your grace.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">First, when I was apart from you,</div><div style="text-align: center;">this world did not exist, nor any other.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Second, whatever I was looking for was always you.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Third, why did I ever learn to count to three?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fourth, my cornfield is burning!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fifth, this finger stands for Rabia, and this</div><div style="text-align: center;">is for someone else. Is there a difference?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Are these words or tears?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Is weeping speech? What shall I do, my love?</div><div style="text-align: center;">So he speaks, and everyone around</div><div style="text-align: center;">begins to cry with him, laughing crazily,</div><div style="text-align: center;">moaning in the spreading union of lover and beloved.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the true religion. All others</div><div style="text-align: center;">are thrown-away bandages beside it.</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the <i>sema</i> of slavery and mastery</div><div style="text-align: center;">dancing together. This is not-being.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I know these dancers. Day and night</div><div style="text-align: center;">I sing their songs in this phenomenal cage.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-83424030545261458582011-02-28T00:01:00.002-05:002011-02-28T00:01:00.161-05:00Body Intelligence (2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vaJJA5h7imQ/TWhBNPfwhqI/AAAAAAAAPro/Y2-2eloDELA/s1600/Elephant%2526Rider-India-1640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vaJJA5h7imQ/TWhBNPfwhqI/AAAAAAAAPro/Y2-2eloDELA/s400/Elephant%2526Rider-India-1640.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><i>Elephant and Rider, Indian, circa 1640</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><i>Metropolitan Museum of Art</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">There are guides</div><div style="text-align: center;">who can show you the way.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Use them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But they will not satisfy your longing.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Keep wanting the connection with presence</div><div style="text-align: center;">with all your pulsing energy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The throbbing vein</div><div style="text-align: center;">will take you further</div><div style="text-align: center;">than any thinking.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Muhammed said, Do not theorize</div><div style="text-align: center;">about essence. All speculations</div><div style="text-align: center;">are just more layers of covering.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Human beings love coverings.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">They think the designs on the curtains</div><div style="text-align: center;">are what is being concealed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Observe the wonders as they occur around you.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Do not claim them. Feel the artistry</div><div style="text-align: center;">moving through, and be silent.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-52102385989313559132011-02-27T00:01:00.000-05:002011-02-27T00:01:00.213-05:00Body Intelligence (1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tCL9RBLd3yk/TWg-R-QbuRI/AAAAAAAAPrk/xu7ZNUyGcbk/s1600/Astrolabe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tCL9RBLd3yk/TWg-R-QbuRI/AAAAAAAAPrk/xu7ZNUyGcbk/s400/Astrolabe.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Three Capetian French scholars</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">consulting an astrolabe, ca. AD 1200</span></i></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Your intelligence is always with you,</div><div style="text-align: center;">overseeing your body, even though</div><div style="text-align: center;">you may not be aware of its work.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you start doing something</div><div style="text-align: center;">against your health, your intelligence</div><div style="text-align: center;">will eventually scold you.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If it had not been so lovingly close by,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and so constantly monitoring,</div><div style="text-align: center;">how could it rebuke?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You and your body's intelligence</div><div style="text-align: center;">are like the beauty and precision</div><div style="text-align: center;">of an astrolabe.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Together, you calculate how near</div><div style="text-align: center;">existence is to the sun.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Your intelligence is marvelously intimate.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is not in front of you or behind,</div><div style="text-align: center;">or to the left or the right.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now, my friend, try to describe how near</div><div style="text-align: center;">is the creator of your intelligence.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-26635193199973961742011-02-26T00:01:00.001-05:002011-02-26T00:01:02.067-05:00Red<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F9fQRR-C2ag/TWg72fvQN6I/AAAAAAAAPrg/GOO5Tk2fQbQ/s1600/place+du+marche+ste+catherine+004+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F9fQRR-C2ag/TWg72fvQN6I/AAAAAAAAPrg/GOO5Tk2fQbQ/s400/place+du+marche+ste+catherine+004+web.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Red with shyness, the red</div><div style="text-align: center;">that became all the rosegarden reds.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The red distance,</div><div style="text-align: center;">red of the stove boiling water,</div><div style="text-align: center;">red of the mountain turning bloodred,</div><div style="text-align: center;">a mountain holding rubies secretly inside.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Do I love more you</div><div style="text-align: center;">or your modesty?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-41648586326683330482011-02-25T00:01:00.002-05:002011-02-25T04:38:12.009-05:00My Worst Habit<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuYvz3Ea1F4/TWY_vq8oKyI/AAAAAAAAPqs/aa7J1aJ1V-4/s1600/EustaceColeBenchSnowLR-8996web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuYvz3Ea1F4/TWY_vq8oKyI/AAAAAAAAPqs/aa7J1aJ1V-4/s400/EustaceColeBenchSnowLR-8996web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
My worst habit is I get so tired of winter</div><div style="text-align: center;">I become a torture to those I'm with.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you are not here, nothing grows.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I lack clarity. My words</div><div style="text-align: center;">tangle and knot up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">How to cure bad water? Send it back to the river.</div><div style="text-align: center;">How to cure bad habits? Send me back to you.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When water gets caught in habitual whirlpools,</div><div style="text-align: center;">dig a way out through the bottom</div><div style="text-align: center;">to the ocean. There is a secret medicine</div><div style="text-align: center;">given only to those who hurt so hard</div><div style="text-align: center;">they can't hope.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The hopers would feel slighted if they knew.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Look as long as you can at the friend you love,</div><div style="text-align: center;">no matter whether that friend is moving away from you</div><div style="text-align: center;">or coming back toward you.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-83544351620567705732011-02-24T00:01:00.015-05:002011-02-24T00:01:05.494-05:00Red Shirt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CPIKBmToxCs/TWUnbv_I0YI/AAAAAAAAPqY/q09ltH7Q1Jg/s1600/Eutyches-Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CPIKBmToxCs/TWUnbv_I0YI/AAAAAAAAPqY/q09ltH7Q1Jg/s400/Eutyches-Portrait.jpg" width="186" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="color: #990000;"><i>Portrait of the Boy Eutyches</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Egyptian, A.D. 100-150</i></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Has anyone seen the boy who used to come here?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Round-faced troublemaker, quick to find a joke, slow</div><div style="text-align: center;">to be serious. Red shirt,</div><div style="text-align: center;">perfect coordination, sly,</div><div style="text-align: center;">strong muscles, with things always in his pocket.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Reed flute, ivory pick, polished</div><div style="text-align: center;">and ready for his talent.</div><div style="text-align: center;">You know that one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Have you heard stories about him?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pharoah and the whole Egyptian world</div><div style="text-align: center;">collapsed for such a Joseph.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I would gladly spend years getting word</div><div style="text-align: center;">of him, even third- or fourth-hand.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>* * * </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i>This reading is poignant for me today,</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>partly because of the recent triumphs in Egypt.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Today is also the 15th anniversary of the day</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>my redheaded (not redshirted) brother passed away at age 47;</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i>except for the flute, every word of the first stanza is true of him! </i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>He visited the pyramids at Giza in 1969</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i>and took some beautiful photographs of them and the Sphinx.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i>I wish I had one here to scan and show you. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i><br />
</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i><b>Bennett Williams Hart</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><i><b>b. June 28, 1948 d. February 24, 1996 </b></i></span><br />
<br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-4397534558974352532011-02-23T00:01:00.009-05:002011-02-23T03:04:21.424-05:00When I Am with You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2UyygXpJep0/TWRcOdR8zXI/AAAAAAAAPqM/Imt1b0PumxA/s1600/edward_steichen_moonrise_mamaroneck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2UyygXpJep0/TWRcOdR8zXI/AAAAAAAAPqM/Imt1b0PumxA/s400/edward_steichen_moonrise_mamaroneck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><span style="color: #990000;"> The Moonrise, Mamaroneck, by Edward J. Steichen</span></i></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">When I am with you, we stay up all night.</div><div style="text-align: center;">When you are not here, I can't go to sleep.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Praise God for these two insomnias.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the difference between them.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-66655744361704052242011-02-22T00:01:00.000-05:002011-02-22T00:01:03.951-05:00The Grasses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6NE4GN_jKw/TWKB_Cz4S7I/AAAAAAAAPpw/5uXUG6MunR0/s1600/grass+and+tree_filtered+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6NE4GN_jKw/TWKB_Cz4S7I/AAAAAAAAPpw/5uXUG6MunR0/s400/grass+and+tree_filtered+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The same wind that uproots trees</div><div style="text-align: center;">makes the grasses shine.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The lordly wind loves the weakness</div><div style="text-align: center;">and the lowness of grasses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The axe doesn't worry how thick the branches are.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It cuts them to pieces. But not the leaves.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It leaves the leaves alone.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The motion of the body, the inhaling-exhaling,</div><div style="text-align: center;">comes from the spirit, now angry, now peaceful.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Wind destroys, and wind protects.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>There is no reality but God</i>,</div><div style="text-align: center;">says the completely surrendered sheikh,</div><div style="text-align: center;">who is an ocean for all beings.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The levels of creation are straws in that ocean.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The movement of the straws comes from an agitation</div><div style="text-align: center;">in the water. When the ocean wants the straws calm,</div><div style="text-align: center;">it sends them close to shore. When it wants them</div><div style="text-align: center;">back in the deep surge, it does with them</div><div style="text-align: center;">as the wind does with the grasses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-71531530621970569322011-02-21T00:01:00.002-05:002011-02-21T04:52:14.784-05:00Dark Sweetness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VTkS148ZhLo/TWGrWbcLWfI/AAAAAAAAPpY/6b_0-WQKMYY/s1600/OldChairLR-042web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VTkS148ZhLo/TWGrWbcLWfI/AAAAAAAAPpY/6b_0-WQKMYY/s400/OldChairLR-042web.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The ground turns green. A drum begins.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Commentaries on the heart arrive in seven volumes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The pen puts its head down</div><div style="text-align: center;">to give a dark sweetness to the page.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Planets go wherever they want.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Venus sways near the North Star.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The moon holds on to Leo.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The host who has no self is here.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We look into each other's eyes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">A child is still a child</div><div style="text-align: center;">even after it has learned the alphabet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Solomon lifts his morning cup to the mountains.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sit down in this pavilion,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and don't listen to religious bickering.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Be silent as we absorb the spring.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-38485353253607809052011-02-20T00:01:00.000-05:002011-02-20T00:01:01.152-05:00Imagining Is Like<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8W_YS5EiOYE/TWBeqqhTJMI/AAAAAAAAPoo/xxXnb9ZGvxo/s1600/ChelseaCemeteryRoadLR-4473web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8W_YS5EiOYE/TWBeqqhTJMI/AAAAAAAAPoo/xxXnb9ZGvxo/s400/ChelseaCemeteryRoadLR-4473web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Imagining is like feeling around</div><div style="text-align: center;">in a dark lane, or washing</div><div style="text-align: center;">your eyes with blood.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You <i>are</i> the truth</div><div style="text-align: center;">from foot to brow. Now,</div><div style="text-align: center;">what else would you like to know?</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-84684043267738079582011-02-19T00:01:00.005-05:002011-02-19T00:01:02.902-05:00Talking through the Door (2)<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RnI6ucyDKc/TV66TYUQpwI/AAAAAAAAPok/h70n9wTBNN0/s1600/sala-de-los-secretos-640x640x80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RnI6ucyDKc/TV66TYUQpwI/AAAAAAAAPok/h70n9wTBNN0/s400/sala-de-los-secretos-640x640x80.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Sala de los Secretos, The Alhambra Palace</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">(Whispering Chamber) </span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Granada, Spain</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Photo from </span></i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:80525560_0eb2c1d54a_o.jpg"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Wiki Commons</span></i></a><br />
<br />
Then you asked, Where have you been most comfortable?</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the palace.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What did you see there?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Amazing things.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then why is it so desolate?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Because all that can be taken away in a second.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Who can do that?</div><div style="text-align: center;">This clear discernment.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Where can you live safely?</div><div style="text-align: center;">In surrender.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Is there no threat of disaster?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Only what comes in your street,</div><div style="text-align: center;">inside your love.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now silence. If I tell you more of this conversation,</div><div style="text-align: center;">those listening would leave themselves.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">There would be no more door,</div><div style="text-align: center;">no roof or windows either.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-76749243132266348372011-02-18T00:01:00.005-05:002011-02-18T00:01:03.761-05:00Talking through the Door (1)<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K-XtiYLhrao/TV1Gb8_PAVI/AAAAAAAAPn8/uoa_RWu4oa0/s1600/Alhambra-450px-Patio_de_los_Arrayanes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K-XtiYLhrao/TV1Gb8_PAVI/AAAAAAAAPn8/uoa_RWu4oa0/s400/Alhambra-450px-Patio_de_los_Arrayanes.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 26px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Patio de los Arrayanes, The Alhambra</span></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 26px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Granada, Spain</span></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 26px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Photo from </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patio_de_los_Arrayanes.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Wiki Commons</span></a></i></span></span><br />
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You said, Who's at the door?</div><div style="text-align: center;">I said, Your slave.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You said, What do you want?</div><div style="text-align: center;">To see you and bow.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We talked through the door. I claimed</div><div style="text-align: center;">a great love and that I had given up</div><div style="text-align: center;">what the world gives to be in that love.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You said, Such claims require a witness.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I said, This longing, these tears.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You said, Discredited witnesses.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I said, Surely not.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You said, Who did you come with?</div><div style="text-align: center;">This majestic imagination you gave me,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Why did you come?</div><div style="text-align: center;">The musk of your wine was in the air.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What is your intention?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Friendship.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-42860017829631355692011-02-17T00:01:00.000-05:002011-02-17T00:01:02.034-05:00The Worm's Waking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nP454Au3TGc/TVxtHUcq0NI/AAAAAAAAPns/eEW_pg5w1JY/s1600/OrchardLRweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nP454Au3TGc/TVxtHUcq0NI/AAAAAAAAPns/eEW_pg5w1JY/s400/OrchardLRweb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">This is how a human being can change.</div><div style="text-align: center;">There is a worm</div><div style="text-align: center;">addicted to eating grape leaves.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Suddenly, he wakes up,</div><div style="text-align: center;">call it grace, whatever, something</div><div style="text-align: center;">wakes him, and he is no longer a worm.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">He is the entire vineyard,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks,</div><div style="text-align: center;">a growing wisdom and joy</div><div style="text-align: center;">that does not need to devour.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-44695628136396315462011-02-16T00:01:00.001-05:002011-02-16T05:30:56.513-05:00The Seed Market<div style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_217504707"></span><span id="goog_217504708"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m7Ii3Y2C8kk/TVr7baVcJYI/AAAAAAAAPng/54hI1x3VasA/s1600/050608+Holland+129+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m7Ii3Y2C8kk/TVr7baVcJYI/AAAAAAAAPng/54hI1x3VasA/s400/050608+Holland+129+web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Can you find another market like this?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Where, with your one rose</div><div style="text-align: center;">you can buy hundreds of rose gardens?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Where, for one seed you get a whole wilderness?</div><div style="text-align: center;">For one weak breath, the divine wind?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You have been fearful of being absorbed</div><div style="text-align: center;">in the ground, or drawn up by the air.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now your waterbead lets go</div><div style="text-align: center;">and drops into the ocean, where it came from.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This giving up is not a repenting.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is a deep honoring of yourself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When the ocean comes to you as a lover,</div><div style="text-align: center;">marry, at once, quickly for God's sake.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Don't postpone it. Existence has no better gift.</div><div style="text-align: center;">No amount of searching will find this.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">A perfect falcon, for no reason,</div><div style="text-align: center;">has landed on your shoulder, and become yours.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064015610319081123.post-69722815320827437932011-02-15T00:01:00.000-05:002011-02-15T00:01:00.940-05:00Whoever's Calm and Sensible<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--J3J8Nn_U74/TVll2LiM5GI/AAAAAAAAPlw/I53xpuf4YTY/s1600/Meijer+Gardens+feb+07+057+ps_filtered+crop+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--J3J8Nn_U74/TVll2LiM5GI/AAAAAAAAPlw/I53xpuf4YTY/s320/Meijer+Gardens+feb+07+057+ps_filtered+crop+web.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">There is a light seed grain inside.</div><div style="text-align: center;">You fill it with yourself, or it dies.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm caught in this curling energy. Your hair.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Whoever's calm and sensible is insane.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com2