I walked around the poetry room of City Lights looking for some books to buy. I was hoping to buy some books by the poets reading from their work on 15 may 2003, but I did not see any of their books for sale. Instead, I saw Ginsberg and Kerouac in the section devoted to the beat generation. I saw Keats and Dante Alligheiri in the general poetry section. But every time I read the words of the poems, they just did not strike a resonance that insinuated itself into my soul. With much persistence however, I found one book that did: Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West edited by Daniel Ladinsky.

The poems of Rabia of Basra (717-801). How odd that by adding the dates of a life, I think that I can better understand the life of Rabia. Rabia was an influential female Islamic saint in the Sufi tradition. In earlier life, she was bought into a brothel because of her beauty. At the age of 50, she gained her freedom through the auspices of a rich patron. She lived her life in meditation and prayer and visitors seeked her for guidance into their life. Miracles are attributed to her.


THE SKY GAVE ME ITS HEART

The sky gave me its heart
because it knew mine was not large enough to care
for the earth the way
it did.

Why is it we think of God so much?
why is there so much talk
about love?

When an animal is wounded
no one has to tell it, "You need to heal"; so naturally it will nurse
itself the best it can.

My eye kept telling me, "Something is missing from
all I see." So it went in search of the cure.

The cure for me was His Beauty, the remedy?
for me was to
love.