The Lamp

by A. Lo’vhenas

— Inspired by Coleman Barks’ translation of Rumi’s “The Guest House”

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In this bodily house, the Soul

welcomes all simultaneously:

the joys, the pains, the sorrows.

Untempered by judgment, 

it brews tea for those ailing,

celebrates excitement and grace,

and offers blankets to the weary,

its hearth of love and light

glowing ever steadily.

These guests may retreat swiftly

or choose to rest a while

but whatever their standing

the house accepts them with a smile.

Harken to the Soul, the hearth,

the ever-present friend,

which transmutes its transient guests

into mana for the Eternal lamp.