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Who is at my door?
He said, "Who is at my door?"
I said, "Your humble servant."
He said, "What business do you have?"
I said, "To greet you, 0 Lord."

He said, "How long will you journey on?"
I said, "Until you stop me."
He said, "How long will you boil in the fire?"
I said, "Until I am pure.

"This is my oath of love.
For the sake of love
I gave up wealth and position."

He said, "You have pleaded your case
but you have no witness."
I said, "My tears are my witness;
the pallor of my face is my proof.'
He said, "Your witness has no credibility;
your eyes are too wet to see."
I said, "By the splendor of your justice
my eyes are clear and faultless."

He said, "What do you seek?"
I said, "To have you as my constant friend."
He said, "What do you want from me?"
I said, "Your abundant grace."

He said, "Who was your companion on the 'ourney?
I said, "The thought of you, 0 King."
He said, "What called you here?"
I said, "The fragrance of your wine."

He said, "What brings you the most fulfillment?"
I said, "The company of the Emperor."
He said, "What do you find there?"
I said, "A hundred miracles."
He said, "Why is the palace deserted?"
I said, "They all fear the thief."
He said, "Who is the thief?"
I said, "The one who keeps me from -you.

He said, "Where is there safety?"
I said, "In service and renunciation."
He said, "What is there to renounce?"
I said, "The hope of salvation."

He said, "Where is there calamity?"
I said, "In the presence of your love."
He said, "How do you benefit from this life?"
I said, "By keeping true to myself

Now it is time for silence.
If I told you about His true essence
You would fly from your self and be gone,
and neither door nor roof could hold you back!

Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved, Jonathan Star
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

My response to Rumi’s poem: Who am I to be bold and to knock on God’s door? Is he busy? He is sweet to take time to question my motives. My heart is enriched: made rich in the knowledge that I have God’s ear and heart. He loves me and he answers in riddle to challenge my thinking and encourage my feelings: My heart expands in his presence and within his silence.

In the Stillness of the Night


In the stillness of the night there is fire.
Not that which the Sun emanates in midday heat alone
But that which He impregnates within me
that has taken hold and begun to burn and glow.

In the stillness of the night there is tempest.
Not that which Thor and Neptune deliver when
their rage imperils all with wind and water
But that which Love fulfills within me
that has taken hold and begun to thunder and flash.

In the stillness of the night there is song.
Not that which the nightingale speaks
But that which the Divine One translates within me
that has taken hold and begun to vibrate and spin.

These work on my inner being--
Fire, tempest and song.
Let them continue until i am no more
So that I AM may live fully through me.

O Sun, O Nature, O Source of perfect stillness.
Glow and flash and spin each night
You fulfill me. I Am Thee.


David Lewis
July 19, 2010

Ocean Love


God is pleased when your love realizes
it is part of something oceanic
and begins to move with the whole

The large love is more real,
being itself reality. These forms, a mix
of earth and water. Yes, you say,
but I already have a deep love.

Not deep or vast enough
More like riverwater filled with silt
Don't wash your hands there.

The love you must enter lives in the saints
and prophets. It is already the ocean, whereas
most loving still filters through countryside,
enjoying the passage.

The ocean says, Quit pretending to be clear.
That pretense keeps you from receiving
what I can give.

Your water wants to reach the sea,
but landscape keeps holding it back.

If you could shake lose your foot,
the earth would be completely dry
and ocean water completely free.

But desserts and undiluted wine
soak you back into wet ground.

Wanting wealth, power, and more tasty food
have made you drunk.

When you can't have what you want, you get headaches.
That hungover disappointment is proof
that what made you drunk was desire.

Let a more measured necessity
govern the intensity of wanting.

You say, I don't need help with this.
I am already united with God.

That's like groundwater claiming to move with the tide.
Not yet. Stay with those who have pure love.

The taste of milk and honey is not it.
Love instead that which gave deliciousness.

This world is a watery shadow of ocean-love.
That sea of light cannot be contained
in single human beings, so leave fragments,
and be the mountain.

As you become existence,
you will distribute creation,
lavishly blessing everybody.

Hold out your apron to catch what comes
with being in the presence.

Don't tear the cloth collecting stone.
Wait for the smooth of old coins,
the silver and gold.

Don't pretend like children
that rocks are precious.

Let the held-out apron be your honesty,
and don't worry about finding a white-haired teacher.

Merging with ocean-love has nothing to do with age
or the color of anyone's hair.


From The Essential Rumi by translations by Coleman Barks

David, that poem is so beautiful. Is that yours or Rumi's? It's transcendent... Thank you for that. Julie