thorn witness

.

Apparent shapes and meanings change.

Creature hunts down creature. Bales

get unloaded and weighed to determine

price. None of any of this pertains

to the unseen fire we call the Beloved.

That presence has no form, and cannot

be understood or measured. Take

your hands away from your face. If

a wall of dust moves across the plain,

there's usually an army advancing

under it. When you look for the Friend,

the Friend is looking for you. Carried

by a strong current, you and the others

with you seem to be making decisions,

but you're not. I weave coarse wool.

I decide to talk less. By my actions

cause nothing. A thorn grows next to

the rose as its witness. I am that

thorn for whom simply to be is an act

of praise. Near the rose, no shame.

~ Rumi

translation by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin 

from The Glance