Who Says Words With My Mouth
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.
This poetry, I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it.
When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.
From Essential Rumi
by Coleman Barks
Thanks from all to David for pointing out in a Comment to this post that YouTube has a video here of Coleman Barks, himself, reading Who Says Words With My Mouth.
What can quench the thirst
Not gallons of this and that
One sip of silence
2 comments:
thanks for this ... here is a beautiful YouTube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHSclx-hIRc&feature=player_embedded
david
David,
Thanks so much for pointing out this link. I've edited the post to include it so all can find it. Interestingly, i notice that his ending is different from mine, so i'm going to have to take my copy of "Essential Rumi" off the bookshelf tomorrow morning and double check it, then edit the post again if necessary.
Thanks again.
Post a Comment