And Then You Are

And then You are like this:

A small bird decorated

With orange patches of light

Waving your wings near my window,

Encouraging me with all of existence’s love -

To dance.

 

And then you are like this:

 

A cruel word that stabs me

From the mouth of a strange costume You wear;

A guise You had too long tricked me into thinking

Could be other – than You.

 

And then You are…

 

The firmament

That spins at the end of a string in Your hand

That You offer to mine saying,

“Did you drop this – surely

This is yours.”

 

And the You are, O Then You are:

 

The Beloved of every creature

Revealed with such grandeur – bursting

From each cell in my body,

I kneel, I laugh,

I weep, I sing,

I sing.

-Hafiz