Hafiz, a 14th century Persian mystic, became one of my favorite poets immediately upon hearing “Absolutely Clear.” It was my birthday. I was participating in a meditation intensive—distracted by emotions (or so I judged) of sadness preoccupying me in the wake of a painful romantic break-up.
I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:
Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.
This poem by Galway Kinnell is an invitation to remember.
In his book, Ten Poems to Open Your Heart, Roger Housden writes about “Saint Francis and the Sow”:
“This is one of those poems that acts on me cell by cell…
Reading the poem led me right back to the small patch of grass where, squatting in complete absorption and wonder, I watched a bee courting a globe of clover. Right then, nothing else existed for the bee—or for me.
