Leave Something in the Marketplace
Sometimes it can happen to these cheeks
when a poem visits my mind for the first time
and begins to look around.
They can wonder why tears are falling on them,
and causing my nose to run too.
O boy, what a mess love makes of me!
But there is nothing else right now
I would rather be doing
than reaping something from a field
in another dimension
and leaving it in the marketplace for anyone who
might happen by.
Leave something in the marketplace for us
before you leave this world.
This poem is amazing! It showcases
Hafiz’s belief in divine inspiration, “reaping from a field in another
dimension”, which is something many of his poems do and which will also be a theme
of an upcoming month. Additionally, his instructions about leaving something
behind ring so very true for the topic of this month, Love. Love is the only
souvenir you will take from this world and the only statue you will leave
behind.
That being said, his instructions
inspired me to try my hand at writing a few verses in the style of Hafiz (often
the ghazal form). I’ve entitled it Sunflower Poem in the Style of Hafiz for
now.
Sunflower Poem in the Style of Hafiz
Do not fret about those who do not understand you.
The sunflower had to wait one thousand years
before anyone knew it had a heart.
Still it turned its face towards the sun.
View from Hampshire College
Photograph: Arden Gewirtz
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