Thankful Thursday: A poem of gratitude in my pocket

Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day, did you know that? I’d forgotten, but Sara Lewis Holmes tied a proverbial string around my finger. The concept is simple: you select a poem, pocket it, and then share it with others throughout the day. 

I should probably confess here that I’m not a poetry aficionado (all apologies to those who are). I blame my erudite English professors, who bled them dry on the altar of literary analysis. But I’m reintroducing myself slowly, with fresh eyes and an open mind. 

I’m really liking Rumi, whose poetry is at once passionate and playful. I love also that his poems celebrate the sacred in everyday life. So it feels right to carry one of his poems in my pocket today, and to savor it with you, my special friends.

What Was Told, That
by Jalalu’l-din Rumi

What was said to the rose that made it open was said
to me here in my chest.

What was told the cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was

whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever

was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them

so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is

being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.

The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!

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    • I think you’ve hit upon another reason I like Rumi’s poetry: his style is unconventional, and not just because it’s translated from another language.

    • I think you’ve hit upon another reason I like Rumi’s poetry: his style is unconventional, and not just because it’s translated from another language.

      • Gary Snyder is probably my favorite poet. I also love Louise Gluck’s “Gretel in Darkness,” and quite a few Shakespearean sonnets.

        And I’m quite partial to this one:

        Insects on a bough
        floating downriver,
        still singing

        –Issa, via Robert Hass, THE ESSENTIAL HAIKU

        I’ve seen another translation of it, but to me this translation better captures the hopefulness of life, and bravery about our tiny place in the huge Universe.

        • Now, see? This is why Poem in a Pocket day is a good idea. I’m not familiar with Snyder or Gluck, but you’ve got me Googling. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your favorite poets…I’m looking forward to reading their poems.

          And also?

          That haiku is shivery magic. I LOVE it, and your interpretation makes it even more special for me.

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