Fierce Courtesy

The connection to the Friend

is secret and very fragile.

The image of the Friendship

is in how you love,

the grace and the delicacy,

the subtle talking together

in full prostration, outside of time.

When you are there,

remember the fierce courtesy

of the one with you.

You Are as You Are

Der Spaziergang, Marc Chagall

You do not resemble anyone.

You are not the bride or the groom.

You do not fit in a house with anyone.

You have left the closed-in corner

where you lived. Domestic animals

get ridden to work. Not you.

You are as you are,

an indescribable message on the air.

Hoofbeats

The sound of hoofbeats leaving a monastery

where all is timed and measured.

You are that rider.

Someone who does not care very much about things

and results, illness and loss, you are the soul

inside

the soul that is always traveling.

Mind gathers bait. Personality

carries a grudge. You weave cloth

like the moon leaving no trace on the road.

There is a learning community where the names of God

are talked about and memorized, and there is

another residence where meanings live.

You are on the way from here to there.

Your graceful manner gives color and fragrance

as creekwater animates the landscape it moves through.

The absolute unknowable appears as spring and disappears

in fall. Signs come, not the essence signified.

How long will you be a shepherd singlefiling us

in and out of the human barn. Will I ever see you

as you secretly are in silence?

Ramadan Silence

When the Ramadan banner flies,

soul restrains nature, so it can taste its own food.

The strength of horses and the intensity of fire,

these are the powers of sacrifice.

Fasting, we honor the guest. Clouds of courage

give rain, because it was in this month

that the Qur'an rained down,

light through an opening.

Grab the rope, and be lifted out

of the body's pit.

Announce to Egypt that Joseph of Canaan

has come. Jesus dismounts the donkey,

and the sacrament table descends.

Wash your hands. Wash your face.

Do not eat or speak as you normally do.

Other food and other words will come in the silence.

The Essence of Ritual

Pray the prayer that is the essence

of every ritual. God, I have no hope.

I am torn to shreds. You are very first,

my last and only refuge.

Do not do daily prayers like a bird

pecking its head up and down.

Prayer is an egg.

Hatch out

the total helplessness inside.

The Mystery of the Moment

To the mind there is such a thing as news,

whereas to the inner knowing, it is all

in the middle of its happening.

To doubters, this is a pain.

To believers, it's gospel.

To the lover and the visionary,

it is life as it's being lived.

The City of Saba (2)

The people of Saba feel bored

with just the mention of prophecy.

They have no desire of any kind. Maybe some

idle curiosity about miracles, but that's it.

This over-richness is a subtle disease.

Those who have it are blind to what's wrong,

and deaf to anyone who points it out.

The city of Saba cannot be understood

from within itself, but there is a cure,

as individual medicine, not a social remedy.

Sit quietly and listen for a voice

that will say, Be more silent.

As that happens, your soul starts to revive.

Give up talking, and your positions of power.

Give up the excessive money.

Turn toward the teachers and the prophets

who do not live in Saba. They will help you

grow sweet again, and fragrant and wild and fresh,

and thankful for any small event.