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.
~ Hafiz Translated by Daniel Ladinsky in THE GIFT
The gold that was my hair has turned
silently to gray. Don’t pity me!
Everything’s been realized,
in my breast all’s blended and attuned.
-- Attuned, as all of distance blends
In the smokestack moaning on the outskirts.
And Love! A soul’s been realized:
The most deeply secret of your ends.