the flute weeps
to the pacing drum
the drunken camel
rises from its knees
and tugs at the rope of reason
the bird flutters
in the heart’s cage
putting out his head
on this side and that
the flood fills
the ancient riverbed
and once again
the riverbanks are green
the falcon hears
the royal drum
and circles seeking
the wrist of the king
the musk deer
smells the lion
and her haunches are trembling
the madmen have seen
the moon in the window;
they are running to the roof
with ladders
somewhere tonight
a dervish cries
“it was my soul
in the wine!
it was my soul!”
From ‘Rumi – Fragments, Ecstacies’