poem of the day

a few days ago, i was at pegasus, where i found two more collections of hafiz's poems to immerse in. i have finished reading i hear god laughing, and now read the angels knocking on the tavern door. pegasus sells used books (i love the idea of reading a treasure that someone has known and sacrificed for another to gain from), and the second collection i bought had a birthday message inside -

happy birthday bekka, may the wind bow at your feet in 2009! thank you for your extraordinary beauty and inspiration. the world is truly a better place with you in it. sean.

what a beautiful and loving message! i was first sad to see that bekka had given away her birthday present, but who knows why. perhaps she had a good reason to part with it. perhaps it was so i could come across it? anyway, i am grateful. i now type out the poem from this collection that speaks to my heart today:

Do not Sink into Sadness

Joseph the lost will return, Jacob should not
Sink into sadness; those who sit in the Grief
House will eventually sit in the Garden.

The grieving chest will find honey; do not let
The heart rot. The manic hysterical head
Will find peace; do not sink into sadness.

If the way the Milky Way revolves ignores
Your desires for one or two days, do not
Sink into sadness: All turning goes as it will.

I say to the bird: "As long as spring
Baptizes the grass, the immense scarlet blossoms
Will continue to sway over your head."

Even if the flood of materialism
Drowns everything, do not sink into
Sadness, because Noah is your captain.

Do not sink into sadness, even though the mysteries
Of the other world slip past you entirely.
There are plays within plays that you cannot see.

When you're lost in the desert, full of longing
For the Kaaba, and the Arabian thornbush
Pierces your feet, do not sink into sadness.

Although the way station you want to reach
Is dangerous and the goal distant, do not
Sink into sadness; all roads have an end.

God knows our whole spiritual state: separated
From Him and punished by rivals. Still do not
Sink into sadness. God is the one who changes conditions.

Oh, Hafez, in the darkness of poverty and in
The solitude of the night, as long as you can sing
And study the Qur'an, do not sink into sadness.