From the left and from the right
come vilification and blame,
but you stay filled with compassion.
The moon gives light so generously
that the dogs bay at it.
They do not affect the moon.
They are like critics, each
with a certain specialty.
A lover is a mountain,
not flecks of dead grass blown about.
A lover is a flock of gnats
alive and lost inside the wind.
If it is true that rules rise from love,
it is also true that lovers
pay no attention to rules.
Desolation everywhere is true cultivation.
Ignoring benefits is a benefit
in love.
Jesus calls from the fourth heaven,
where communion is celebrated,
Welcome. Wash your hands and face.
It is time to sit at the table together.
-- Rumi