
With That Moon Language – by Hafiz
Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them,
“Love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud;
Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this,
This great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one
Who lives with a full moon in each eye
That is always saying,
With that sweet moon
Language,
What every other eye in this world
Is dying to
Hear.
Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)
Children do this: they come to everyone and bid, “Love me.”
When does that stop; why does it stop?
We all have the impulse in us to ask for love and to give love.
The ancient Sufi poet puts it into words and bids us to “become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye” – like every child of love – and “always saying what every other eye in the world is dying to hear: Love me.”
Persian lyric poet Hafiz (born Khwāja Šamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī, circa 1315 – 1390). Though very little is known about his life, he is one of the most celebrated of the Persian poets, and his influence can be felt to this day. As the author of numerous ghazals expressing love, spirituality, and protest, he and his work continue to be important to Iranians, and many of his poems are used as proverbs or sayings.
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About R.H. (Rusty) Foerger
As I enter the third third of life, I am becoming aware of the role of elders today “to enlarge spiritual vision, being devoted to prayer, living in the face of death, as a living curriculum of the Christian life” (Dr. James M. Houston). I am a life long and life wide learner who seeks to: *decipher the enigma of our worth *rescue from the agony of prayerlessness *integrate spiritual friendship.
Thank you for posting this exquisite poem, expressing the innermost yearning of the heart–to love and to be loved. My mind went back to my bopping doo-wop days of the 1950s and a song by Jackie Wilson, expressing part of the equation: “To Be Loved.”
Thanks also for the recent likes posted on my blog.
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Thanks for the reference to Jackie Wilson. I immediately went looking for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXitw5_7Wzs. Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” resonates with me: “the greatest thing… is to love… and be loved… in return”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0XJCJ1Srw
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You are so right with the reference to Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy. That’s the line I was thinking of. That says it all. Thanks.
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