I am going to let my buddy Hafiz speak tonight.
It happened again last night:
Love popped the cork on itself-
Splattered my brains across the sky.
I imagine now for ages
Something of Hafiz will appear
To fall like stars.
Isn't that cool??
And this one:
Last night God posted
On the tavern wall
A hard decree for all of love's inmates which read:
If your heart cannot find a joyful work
The jaws of this world will probably
Grab hold of your sweet ass.
I have more than one work. I recommend more than one.
Contraction
1 week ago
Clever. Love's inmates. Before I met hubby I felt like a prisoner, but in this relationship I feel more free than ever. Thankfully my heart can find a joyful work. I don't know where those jaws have been and I sure wouldn't want them on my sweet ass.
ReplyDeleteIt's his attitude does it for me. That's what guides me. Techno, I am quite happy to hear that you have found your match.
ReplyDeleteWorking on it.....:)
ReplyDeleteSh*t! I cannot find joyful work to save my life. I am ridiculously melancholy over it. Silver lining...it is so boring that I have lots of blog time. I arrived at work yestarday at 7:00 AM and was done with my daily tasks at 7:17 AM. Now what???? Ug!
ReplyDelete{{{Michelle}}} I know you are.
ReplyDeleteW&W, I am a designer in the Engineering trades. I would call that interesting work, engaging work, useful work sometimes, well enough paid work. I would not call it a life work or in the sense of Hafiz' use of joyful work, I would not call it joyful. Joy is deflected from the work as it is in most corporate work because the primary work of corporations is money management and profit and secondary to that, the preservation of the corporate body.
(It is my experience that most of the ways we make a living are deflected like this unless you really are just in it for the money and status)
When I said I have two works, I mean I have punched through the practice into the role of practitioner both in music and wordsmithing. I do neither for pay, and refuse to. I get my fill of money and time management in my trade. That I do not engage these works on a full time basis only means that they stay fresher.
I like calling what I do for a living a trade. I think that is an apt word on many levels.
Thanks for posting these... really, I should get out there and find a collection of his to acquire, especially with little gems such as this.
ReplyDeleteJoseph, these come out of a book entitled The Gift and are translations by Daniel Ladinsky. The line spacings are my own. My copy is a Penguin/Arkana publication. It looks like Amazon has it on Kindle. There is an argument however whether these poems are really mostly Hafiz or mostly Mr. Ladinsky. The translations are really free.
ReplyDeleteI think his poems can be twisted around and around upon themselves until they are slap happy bits to hit the thigh. Or they can be stretched out until they reveal what actually might be behind them.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly my draw, Erin, the way they shape shift.
ReplyDelete