Poetry Roundup

(cross-posted on Facebook)

glass three-quarters full

sunlight, oxygen,
water and earth.

without these things to nourish us

free gifts from the universe

where would we be?

therefore I don't believe that evil outweighs good.
if that were true, nothing could live.

---

my role models

some people aspire
to reach the top of the heap,
where everyone will recognize their merits
(of course, this requires keeping down the competition.)

but I say:

it is not the favored ones
who can teach me
how to survive

---

On Hypocrisy

The cruelties of Fate I can't deny,
but human cruelty still makes me angry.

Hafiz writes of hypocrisy and wine - almost too much;
but hypocrisy is nearly the root of all evil.

Heaven says, "Everything I am, I am."
Only humans say, "No, that's not me."

I don't seek love; I am not cruel.

---

Written in Red

Last night I dreamed I was writing our story
in red ink
on the inside of my blue shirt.

When I looked at the outside, the letters had soaked through,
and I kept asking myself:

"What am I doing? What if people can read this? Do I really want everybody to see my pain?
Am I ruining my favorite shirt?"

But I kept writing.

---

Speaking of unrealistic goals . . .

the difference is
that if you lie long enough on the Friend's doorstep,
trembling with sincerity,
someday He will take you in.

---

from the footnote to ghazal 93:

my heart was flung into the fire
like a counterfeit coin
it turned black.

one who reaches the Beloved loses everything else,
even love.

---

Introduction to Hafiz

1.

Hafiz takes off all his clothes
and jumps up and down in the marketplace.

Everyone knows you're supposed to hide
your nakedness

2.

The poet says, God is everything.

But still we are drawn to imperfections:
the broken half of the moon.

(written on Facebook, April 9, 2009. Thanks to Tahar.)