Our lives are finite and if we are fortunate we can notice and be wowed by how spectacular our being alive actually is. Realizing how precious each moment of our life is can often be left to the last minutes when we are dying. That minute, a bittersweet realization, as all the complex things we place so much mental focus upon doing simply end. Such is the transient nature of what we shy away from but eventually we must accept. In the end, all there is, really, is how we made those standing in our wake feel as we move on. All that endures is the love and what of sincerity that we shared with others.
Hafiz wants us to remember that the glorious miracle of life is to recall being alive in every moment that we have and appreciate it and share it. Poetry lies in the heart of the splendor of living fully with the others who dot the landscape of our lives. Our lives do not last as long as we pretend they do.
Thank you for listening.
Music: Writing this post made me think of a little video I made of my big sister years ago. She left in 2008. I was bequeathed some of her things that she cherished but what I remember most is how she made me feel like a rock star in my life while she was here. I still feel that way sometimes. She planted that seed in me and showed me that part of my possibility. She helped me identify that feeling when I was a wee child. No small gift.
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz (including an addendum regarding the authenticity of these poems) can be found here. Also, my thoughts on this series a year into these poems, HERE.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.
My book can be purchased HERE. E-book HERE. The Season Two blogcasts with audio excerpts from my book begin HERE: in Behind The Lines. This reading of the book excerpts in a mixed media format is Season Two of this blog. These recorded excerpts are outside the chronological order in which the book was written. Podcasts with audio only beginning with episode 22 can be found HERE.
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