A tree dripping with poems....
Bloody poets, sometimes they say exactly the things you need to hear. Take this line from Rumi – “If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?”
Life’s a bit ‘exciting’ at the moment, with colds, infections, bad tempers… and that’s just me. Let’s not talk about A&E visits, house moves I can’t be there to help with, work weeks away and then there are the excitements ahead of being a granny etc etc etc. So when I woke up AGAIN feeling both busy and poorly, I was tempted to put off doing something poetic this morning, even if it was for the loveliest of things – the launch of the Samsara Retreat and Yoga centre in Kent.
That's when that Rumi quote above flew out of a book I'd picked up and hit me. But not only was there the chance to be polished, there needed also to be time spent thinking what I want to do. So I took a cup of tea into a quiet spot and thought - what DID I want to do.
So I got into my car and drove to Samsara, and set up a poetry tree so people could enjoy the poems I'd already selected for them, even if I couldn't stay. And on my way there, the sun started shining, I found lanes I hadn't driven down before, saw lambs, and apple trees in blossom, and when I got to the beautiful beautiful retreat centre Lorraine and Dipu have created so generously, I felt so lucky to be even a small part involved.
Bloody poets. Bloody lessons. But look how gorgeous these poems look on the tree. New leaves, every one of them.
And yes, Rumi was one of them. And yes, this was the poem…
The Guest House
(Translated by Coleman Barks)
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.