The other side is silence. What's the power
We feel in it, my friend? Is it the loss
Aweary singer might
feel
in the dawn
When "Mack the Knife" has captured halfthe town ?
We linger at the window, and across
The shark's teeth shines thc giant broadcast tower.
Andrew Harvey
FIVE RUMI QUATRAINS
In this old house
The rain has rot[ed
My heart is in ruin
Love, enter, or let me leave.
*
'Blood must flow' he said
'For the garden to flower
And the heart that loves me
Is a wound without shield'
*
How do I live when you're not here?
Pain lives me, a wound speaks with my mouth.
And when you return ? Only you know
How you hollow mc out and dance in the hollow.
*
I pull you to me by a knowledge beyond words
You think we're meeting for the first time?
I know Him in you,
J
see you completely
You've eaten His food; the crumbs are on your lips
*
With
one silent laugh
You
tilted
the night
And the garden ran with stars.
Editor's Note: "Five Rumi Quatrains" are excerpted from Andrew Harvey's
"re-creations" of Rumi 's poems,
Sj}('(lking Flame,
to be published in February by
Meerarnma Publications. Copyright
©
1989 Andrew Harvey.
