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"Hamza's Nothing"
A moth flying into the flames says
with its wingfire, "Try this." The wick
with its knotted neck broken tells you
the same. A candle as it diminishes
explains, "Gathering more and more is
not the way. Burn, become light
and heat and help melt." The ocean
sits in the sand letting its lap
fill with pearls and shells, then empty.
The bitter salt taste hums, "This."
The phoenix gives up on good-and-bad,
flies to nest on Mount Qaf, no more
burning and rising from ash. It sends
out one message. The rose purifies
its face, drops the soft petals, shows
its thorn, and points. Wine abandons
thousands of famous names, the vintage
years and delightful bouquets, to run
wild and anonymous through your brain.
Empty, the flute closes its eyes
to Hamza's nothing. Everything begs
with the silent rocks for you to be
flung out like light over this plain,
the presence of Shams-i Tabriz.
-- Ghazal (Ode) 2041
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999
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