Rumi Odes & Quatrains: Part 1

by Shahram Shiva

(1)

To Love is to be God.

Never will a Lover"s chest

feel any sorrow.

Never will a Lover"s robe

be touched by mortals.

Never will a Lover"s body

be found buried in the earth.

To Love is to be God.

(2)

To heal the burning of your sorrow,

I seek a flame.

To gather the dust of your door,

I seek the palms of my hands.

To deal with you hiding behind your holiness,

I seek a good time instead.

(3)

You think you are alive

because you breathe air?

Shame on you,

that you are alive in such a limited way.

Don"t be without Love,

so you won"t feel dead.

Die in Love

and stay alive forever.

(4)

Bring the pure wine of

love and freedom.

But sir, a tornado is coming.

More wine, we"ll teach this storm

A thing or two about whirling.

(5)

My head is bursting

with the joy of the unknown.

My heart is expanding a thousand fold.

Every cell,

taking wings,

flies about the world.

All seek separately

the many faces of my love.

(6)

am so drunk

I have lost the way in

and the way out.

I have lost the earth, the moon, and the sky.

Don"t put another cup of wine in my hand,

pour it in my mouth,

for I have lost the way to my mouth.

(7)

Last night,

I saw the realm of joy and pleasure.

There I melted like salt;

no religion, no blasphemy,

no conviction or uncertainty remained.

In the middle of my heart,

a star appeared,

and the seven heavens were lost in its brilliance.

(8)

I am drumming,

I am drumming,

I am drumming

for my Love"s ever nearing union.

They say get a life.

What is all this drumming?

I swear to that Love,

the day that I stop drumming,

is the day that I will stop living.

(9)

I said, meet me in the garden.

You know the one--

it is called Smiling Spring.

There are nightingales chirping away,

wine and candle lights,

and companions as soft as

pomegranate blossoms.

You think this all would sound so perfect!

But without you by my side,

what use is the Smiling Spring?

And when you are with me,

what use are pomegranate blossoms?

(10)

am an atom;

you are like the countenance of the Sun for me.

I am a patient of Love

you are like medicine for me.

Without wings, without feathers,

I fly about looking for you.

I have become a rose petal

and you are like the wind for me.

Take me for a ride.