Listen to the sound of this reed-flute – <br />hear what it says. First, it laments <br />its banishment; its tearing away <br />from its home, its reed-bed. And <br />this alone, tears at the yearning heart <br />of all those whose heart feels far from home. <br />Listen to it. <br /> <br />Then behind its breathy air <br />is fire – the fire of love; that sound <br />which tells every love-story in the world, <br />of lovers, parted, yearning to be <br />together once more. This flute first <br />tells of separation; then of unity. <br />Listen to it. <br /> <br />Do not listen to this dangerous <br />flute, unless you wish to hear <br />the innermost secrets of your heart – <br />the parting and the separation, <br />the yearning, yearning, for return – <br />Dare you listen to this story of pain, of love? <br />Listen to it. <br /> <br /> <br />(freely taken from the Prologue to Book I of the Masnavi I Ma’navi <br />of Maulana Jalalu’din Muhammad Rumi, the founder Dervish)<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0245-the-sound-of-the-flute/
