SOME KISS WE WANT

There is some kiss we want

with our whole lives, the touch

of spirit on the body. Seawater

begs the pearl to break its shell.

And the lily, how passionately

it needs some wild darling!

At night, I open the window and ask

the moon to come and press its

face against mine.

Breathe into me. Close

the language-door and open the love-window.

The moon won´t use the door,

only the window.

-Rumi

CANDLE AT NOON

A man is wandering the marketplace at noon

with a candle in his hand, totally ecstatic.

"Hey", calls shopkeeper, "is this a joke"?
Who are you looking for?"

"Someone breathing Huuu, the divine breath."
"Well, there are plenty to choose from."

"But I want one who can be in anger and desire
and still be a true human being in the same moment."

                                                      -RUMI

THE OCEAN´S MOTION

Love is an ocean. This wide sky,

a bit of foam on that.

                 Restless as Zuleikha

in her desire for Joseph,

                 sky-changes move across

day and night. If there were no love,

everything would freeze and be

still. Instead

                  inorganic grains are entering

plants. Plants enter animals;

                 animals center

spirit, and spirit sacrifices itself

                 for one breath

of that which made Mary with child. Each

sapling lifts, and the universe

winds like a locust swarm its wingrush

toward perfection,

                 each particle purified

in a song of praise for motion.

   -Rumi

ONLY BREATH- RUMI

LOVE DOGS

One night a man was crying Allah! Allah!
His lips grew sweet with praising,
until a cynic said, "So!
I have heard you calling out, but have you ever
gotten any response?"

The man had no answer to that.
He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep.

He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls,
in a thick, green foliage.

"Why did you stop praising?" "Because
I´ve never heard anything back."

"This longing you express
is the return message."

The grief you cry out from
draws you toward union.

Your pure sadness
that wants help
is the secret cup.

Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.

There are love dogs
no one knows the names of.

Give your life
to be one of them.

Inside water, a waterwheel turns.
A star circulates with the moon.

We live in this night ocean wondering,
What are these lights?

No better love than love with no object,
no more satisfying work than work with no purpose.

If you could give up tricks and cleverness,

that would be the cleverest trick!

                                                       -Rumi