“Every good conversation starts with good listening.” --anonymous
The following poems are a kind of dialogue over the centuries, sparked by a contemplative online course I’m taking at the website Monasteries of the Heart. The first is by the great Sufi Muslim poet Hafiz, who lived and worked in Persia during the 14th century. The second is one of mine, written just this week in response. My hope is that the first poem will inspire you, and that the second will pique your curiosity if nothing else. (After all, I’m no Hafiz!)
Blessin’s, --Tom
…
WITH THAT MOON LANGUAGE
By Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinsky
Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.” Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise, someone would call the cops. Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect. Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye that is always saying, with that sweet moon language, what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?
…
WHAT A RIDDLE (A Conversation with Hafiz)
By Tom Emanuel
Why not become what you long for?
Your wanting births only
absence, gnawing awareness
of not enough. What
a riddle this is! Your glass
is neither half-
empty nor half-full, but
ready to be poured out, no
matter the level. You seek
love? Offer love, and love
will flow through you. The giving is
the fulfillment, the answer
to that pleading
in your silent self. What a riddle
this is! That there is more
than enough to go around, if only
we can open our hand
and let go.
…
QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK (thanks to Mary Lou Kownack OSB): What if, instead of pleading “love me,” you met everyone with the unspoken assurance, “I love you.” How would it look? Try it today.
Comments