Thirst is angry with water. Hunger bitter <br />with bread. <br /> <br />The cave wants nothing to do with the sun. <br /> <br />This is dumb, the self- defeating way <br />we've been. <br /> <br />A gold mine is calling us into its temple. <br />Instead, we bend and keep picking up rocks <br />from the ground. <br /> <br />Every thing has a shine like gold, <br />but we should turn to the source! <br /> <br />The origin is what we truly are. I add a little <br />vinegar to the honey I give. <br /> <br />The bite of scolding makes ecstasy more familiar. <br /> <br />But look, fish, you're already in the ocean: <br />just swimming there makes you friends with <br />glory. <br /> <br />What are these grudges about? You are Benjamin. <br />Joseph has put a gold cup in your grain sack and <br />accused you of being a thief. <br /> <br />Now he draws you aside and says, <br />'You are my brother. I <br /> <br />am a prayer. You're the amen.' <br /> <br />We move in eternal regions, yet <br />worry about property here. <br /> <br />This is the prayer of each: <br /> <br />You are the source of my life. <br />You separate essence from mud. <br /> <br />You honor my soul. You bring rivers from the <br />mountain springs. You brighten my eyes. <br /> <br />The wine you offer takes me out of myself into <br />the self we share. Doing that is religion.<br /><br />Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-self-we-share/
