Don't Surrender Your Loneliness by Hafiz

 Don't surrender your loneliness
So quickly
Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

It Felt Love by Hafiz

How did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to this world

All its

Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light

Against its

Being,

Otherwise,

We all remain

Too

Frightened.

Here's a lovely reinterpretation of Hafiz's work by Daniel Landinsky.  Some critics claim his "translations" are too free-- but they still make for lovely poetry.

Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Haven't posted anything in quite a while, but I stumbled on this poem by Hafiz and couldn't let it pass. It'll give you a clue to what the past few months have been like for me.

Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,

Break all our teacup talk of God.

If you had the courage and

Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,

He would just drag you around the room

By your hair,

Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world

That bring you no joy.

Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly

And wants to rip to shreds

All your erroneous notions of truth

That make you fight within yourself, dear one,

And with others,

Causing the world to weep

On too many fine days.

God wants to manhandle us,

Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself

And practice His dropkick.

The Beloved sometimes wants

To do us a great favor:

Hold us upside down

And shake all the nonsense out.

But when we hear

He is in such a “playful drunken mood”

Most everyone I know

Quickly packs their bags and hightails it

Out of town.

Hafiz, The Gift. Daniel Ladinsky, trans. New York: Penguin Compass, 1999.

Said the frog: Could it be
there's Beauty too inside of me?

Haiku # 32: Victory

Victory hard won-

yet how much sweeter in its

anticipation!

A Prayer

Lord, you speak to me
In my hunger for a joy that does not fade,
In my longing for a love without boundaries,
In my desire to give of myself completely
So that others may be enriched.

God of my heart,
Amidst the confusion and fear of everyday,
Amidst the contrary tugs of a divided heart,
Grant me the faith and serenity to hear your call
And to respond with trust and generosity
Whatever you may ask of me.

God of my searching,
I do not know where this journey will end
But I trust that you will walk it with me
Though I may not always sense your guiding hand
Or recognize the breath of your Spirit.

Fearful as I am, I give you my life this day.
Help me to discover the best way to use it, Lord,
For your love is my bread
And your will is my resting place
Now and forever. Amen.