Enlightenment Poem — Marc Gafni

Little by little
You will turn into stars

Even then, my dear,
You will only be
A crawling infant,
Still skinning your knees on God.

Little by little
You will turn into
The whole sweet amorous universe
In heat
On a wild spring night.

And become so free
In a wonderful, secret
And pure love
That flows
From a conscious,
One-pointed,
infinite need for light.

Even then, my dear,
The Beloved will have fulfilled
Just a fraction
Just a fraction!
Of a promise
He wrote upon your heart.

When your soul begins
To ever-bloom and laugh
And spin in eternal ecstasy–

O, little by little,
You will turn into God.

Hafiz

A Second Offering on Enlightenment:

You have not danced so badly, my dear,
Trying to hold hands
with the beautiful one.

You have waltzed with great style,
My sweet, crushed angel,
To have ever neared God’s heart at all.

Our partner is notoriously difficult
to follow,
and even his best musicians are not always easy
to hear.

So what
if the music has stopped for a while?

So what,
If the price of admission to the divine
Is out of reach tonight.

So what, my dear,
If you do not have the ante

To gamble for real love?

The mind and the body are famous
For holding the heart ransom.
But Hafiz knows the Beloved’s
Eternal habits.

Have patience.

For he will not be able to resist your longing
For long.

You have not danced so badly, my dear
Trying to kiss the beautiful one.

You have actually waltzed with tremendous style
O my sweet
O my sweet crushed angel.

Hafiz

(Chosen by Marc Gafni)