The Chance of Humming

A
man
standing on two logs in a river
might do all right floating with the current
while humming in the
now.

Though
if one log is tied to a camel,
who is also heading south along the bank – at the same pace –
all could still be well
with the
world

unless the camel
thinks he forgot something, and
abruptly turns upstream,
then

uh-oh.

Most minds
do not live in the present
and can stick to a reasonable plan; most minds abruptly turn
and undermine the

chance
of
humming.

 

 

~ Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky, in his book, ‘Love Poems from God”.

_____

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi was a Sufi Shaykh who lived in Turkey 800 years ago, being one of the greatest Saints that the world has ever seen. He has been the most popular poets in the USA for the past ten years, with people still finding inspiration in his wisdom and beautiful language. He was the founder of the Mevlevi Sufi Order, who are famous for their Sufi Whirling Ceremony.