Answers from the Elements

Rumi

A whole afternoon field inside me from one stem of reed.
The messenger comes running toward me, irritated:
Why be so hard to find?
Last night I asked the moon about the Moon, my one question
for the visible world, Where is God?

The moon says, I am dust stirred up
when he passed by.The sun, My face is pale yellow
from just now seeing him. Water: I slide on my head and face
like a snake, from a spell he said. Fire: His lightning,
I want to be that restless. Wind, why so light?
I would burn if I had a choice. Earth, quiet
and thoughtful? Inside me I have a garden
and an underground spring.

This world hurts my head with its answers, wine filling my hand, not my glass.
If I could wake completely, I would say without speaking

Why I’m ashamed of using words.

 

(Reprinted by the Community Development Resource Association - www.cdra.org.za)