My Eyes So Soft by Hafiz
by Steven McCabe
Don’t
Surrender
Your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more
Deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so,
Tender.
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
The linocut image (# 26 of 116 prints) is from a black & white wordless graphic novel I am currently completing. Although ‘wordless poem’ is probably a more accurate description. I thought an image of ‘looking out from within’ might dovetail well with this poem.
You never disappoint thank you.
Thank you very much Heather.
Beautiful the way the ‘light’ (that’s not the best word…) shifts from strong to soft, the blurring, easing into the emotion.
Wonderfully paired.
Thank you for your observations Karen. I love the idea of ‘light’ not being the best word…something like light shifting…not light but shifting like light….
I like the sandiness of the images, it echoes the ancient quality of the struggle Hafiz depicts so sharply and softly. May I remark that I am excited to learn more about the “wordless poem”.
Hi Jack. Thanks for adding these thoughts about sand/struggle, sharp and soft. This alliteration sequence has a chanted quality… as if passing over the sand. Ah, the wordless poem is a narrative, rather cinematic, it enters itself and exits in a non-linear fashion, doubling back, playing with time. The introduction, put together by an excellent arts writer, frames it all as ‘episodic.’ I’m really appreciate that you find this interesting and I’ll say more about it as we get nearer to the publication date.
Holy and raw – beautiful dance in every way….
Thanks so much John…. such great words together: holy and raw.
Enchanting. The mystery of fermentation. I like the act of cutting the image juxtaposed to “cutting” in the poem, and clarity/hidden. Lovely.
Nice to meet you Vivian and thank you for landing your stone in the pond, adding to the process, spreading circles.