Quatrains~

Never think the earth void or dead-
It's a hare, awake with shut eyes:
It's a sauce-pan, simmering with broth-
One clear look, you'll see it's in ferment.

*

What do you hope to find
In the soul's streets
In the bloody streets of the heart
That have no news, even of yourself?

*

Ignorant men are the sou's enemy
Shatter the jar of smug words
Cling for life to those who know
Prop a mirror in water, it rusts

*

How long will we fill our pockets
Like children with dirt and stones?
Let the world go. Holding it
We never know ourselves, never are air-born.

*

I lost my world, my fame, my mind-
The Sun appeared, and all the shadows ran.
I ran after them, but vanished as I ran -
Light ran after me and hunted me down.

*

Circle the Sun, you become a sun:
Circle a Master, and you become one.
You'd be a ruby, if you danced around this mine -
Dance around him, you'll gliter like gold.

*

Atom, you want to flee the sun?
Madman, give up!
You're a jar; fate's a stone-
Kick against it, you'll waste your wine.

*

I was once, like you, 'enlightend', 'rational',
I too scoffed at lovers.
Now I am drunk, crazed, thin with misery -
No-one's safe! Watch out!

*

Reason, leave now! You'll not find wisdom here!
Were you thin as a hair, there'd still be no room.
The Sun is risen! In its vast dazzle
Every lamp is drowned.

*

Body of earth, don't talk of earth
Tell the story of pure mirrors
The Creator has given you this splendour -
Why talk of anything else?

*

This body's a mirror of heaven:
Its energies make angels jealous.
Our purty astounds seraphim:
Devils shiver at our nerve.

*
Suddenly,he is here -
Heads touch, secrets start singing.
Time's barn is flattened by storm-wind
We crumple on its straws like drunks.




Rumi