HAFÍZ

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.

The Happy Virus

I caught the happy virus last night
When I was out singing beneath the stars.
It is remarkably contagious –
So kiss me.

The Subject Tonight is Love

The subject tonight is Love
And for tomorrow night as well,
As a matter of fact
I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all
Die!

Find A Better Job

Now
That
All your worry
Has proved such an
Unlucrative
Business,
Why
Not
Find a better
Job.

Becoming Human

Once a man came to me and spoke for hours about
„His great visions of God“ he felt he was having.

He asked me for confirmation, saying,
„Are these wondrous dreams true?“

I replied, „How many goats do you have?“

He looked surprised and said,
„I am speaking of sublime visions
And you ask
About goats!“

And I spoke again saying,
„Yes, brother – how many do you have?“

„Well, Hafiz, I have sixty-two.“

„And how many wives?“
Again he looked surprised, then said,
„Four.“

„How many rose bushes in your garden,
How many children,
Are your parents still alive,
Do you feed the birds in winter?“

And to all he answered.

Then I said,
„You asked me if I thought your visions were true,
I would say that they were if they make you become
More human,

More kind to every creature and plant
That you know.”

Why Abstain?

Why
Abstain from love
When like the beautiful snow goose
Someday your soul
Will leave this summer
Camp?

Why
Abstain from happiness
When like a skilled lion
Your heart is
Nearing

And
Will someday see
The divine prey is
Always
Near!

Why Not Be Polite?

Everyone
Is God speaking.
Why not be polite and
Listen to
Him?

Dropping Keys

The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.

If You Don’t Stop That

I used to live in
A cramped house with confusion
And pain.

But then I met the Friend
And started getting drunk
And singing all
Night.

Confusion and Pain
Started acting nasty,
Making threats,
With talk like this,

„If you don’t stop ‚that‘ –
All that fun –

We’re
Leaving.“

Damn Thirsty

First
The fish needs to say,

„Something ain’t right about this
Camel ride –

And I’m
Feeling so damn

Thirsty.“

These Beautiful Love Games

Young lovers wisely say,

„Let’s try it from this angle,
Maybe something marvelous will happen,

Maybe three suns and two moons
Will roll out
From a hiding place in the body
Our passion has yet to ignite.“

Old lovers say,
„We can do it one more time,
How about from this longitude
And latitude –

Swinging from a rope tied to the ceiling,

Maybe a part of God
Is still hiding in a corner of your heart
Our devotion has yet to reveal.“

Bottom line:

Do not stop playing
These beautiful
Love
Games.


I Want Both Of Us

I want both of us
To start talking about this great love

As if you, I, and the Sun were all married
And living in a tiny room,

Helping each other to cook,
Do the wash,
Weave and sew,
Care for our beautiful
Animals.

We all leave each morning
To labor on the earth’s field.
No one does not lift a great pack.

I want both of us to start singing like two
Travelling minstrels
About this extraordinary existence
We share,

As if
You, I, and God were all married

And living in
A tiny
Room.

I Got Kin

Plant
So that your own heart
Will grow.

Love
So God will think,

„Ahhhhhh,
I got kin in that body!
I should start inviting that soul over
For coffee and
Rolls.“

Sing
Because this is a food
Our starving world
Needs.

Laugh
Because that is the purest
Sound.