La Umejo

FOR SHEER PLEASURE

Thief of minarets,
check if you have the mine shafts
in which to hide them.*

“We dance along Death’s icy brink,
but is the dance less full of fun?”**

If it’s your teacher
who says so, then dye with wine
your prayer carpet***

* Eastern proverb
** Sir Richard Burton, The Kasidah,
Vienna, 1880
*** Hafiz