Inside the Rose

This is another rendering of Rumi, allowing us to see from "inside the Rose."

That camel over there with its calf running behind it 
(Sutur and Koshek),

we're like them.

We're mothered and nursed by who we are, and where we are from,

following our fates (our camel natures) wherever they lead.

But then we hear a clap, and a drum beat begins,

grace enters our lives.

We feel the Presence and call of God and the journey we've been on changes.

The dry fields of desert and stones turns soft and moist like cheese.

The mountains feel level under our feet.

Love comes alive in us--agile and quick

and suddenly we are there, nowhere, everywhere.

This kind of traveling is not done by the body.

This is God's hidden secret and it takes place inside our loving.

But there are those in bodies who are already pure Soul and full of Spirit.

It can happen!

And these become Messengers and invite us to walk with them.

They say, "You may feel happy enough where you are, but we cannot be without you any longer.

So come, please, walk with us." ...and we do, inside the Rose, pulled like mountain creeks and rivers, out of ourselves, from the towns and villages we have been living in and into the valleys.

O my Guide--O my Soul--your only sadness is this--when I am not walking with you.

If in deep silence and with some exertion I could stay in your Presence,

I could save us both a lot of trouble.