Freedom

In the space

Between

Where one breath touches another

Time loses is its influence.

What then becomes of the dance

Of cause and effect,

attraction and repulsion,

birth and death,

I and Thou?

The Embrace of Divine Shattering

There is wisdom in insecurity,
Protection in fear,
Knowledge in regret,

Awakening in suffering.

If you are being shattered,
is there really any way to stop it?
Yet there is always a way of return.
It resides in a knowing

deep at the root of our being.

If you have not been shattered,
you cannot find this 'way' to awakening,
to be reborn from the chains
of limitation and conditioning.

In shattering
The breath stops,
The heart cracks open,
Through the openings a breeze arises

as the breath of Allah.

Now is the time to let go!

It is the way to give a broken heart

the promise of healing by this blessed Breath.

Let yourself be empty now and simply present

to this new life as it heals and enfolds you in nearness,

where one step spans a thousand years in the way.

Oh lover,

Know that when your heart is shattered

it brings intimacy, and then,

though you may not see the face of the Beloved,

you certainly feel Her longing embrace.

Seeking the Beloveds Kiss

This frustration –

Seeking, seeking, seeking

And not one curl of my beloved do I see.

Hiding behind your veil,

I know you are fanning my desire beloved

My deep longing burns,

Ignited by separation and love.

Longing, burning, melting,

Pain of separation, limitation, blindness –

I surrender Beloved, I give up!

So tired, no longer can I continue such endless seeking;

Heart Bereft, lost, a failure to your love -

I lay down myself - darkness comes.

Gently, a kiss

upon the lips of my heart,

A rose scented breeze caressing my face.

What, what is this awakening?

No, not for I, I am gone, but yet do I live?

Rising, dusting off ashes from my heart,

So softly I call: Is it you Beloved ?

and find the answer in my tears.

Longing for Rumi's Beloved

This barren longing,

This lack of capacity

to feel Thy embrace Beloved,

Is breaking my heart.

My longing for thy kiss,

is a desert longing for rain,

it makes the cracks in my soul deeper and

in the cracks some flame is kindled on

the bone dry tinder of myself.

I wail,

I know it is wailing because I’ve heard it before,

In the Friends who’ve mingled love with separation;

Like those friends, I find myself beginning to turn -

It is the only thing that seems to ease the pain,

Like melting in some all-pervading ocean.

As my heart turns – it calls out this song:

Longing the fuel,

Love the flame,

I will burn `til morning

when nothing remains

but YOU.