You miss the garden,
because you want a small fig from a random tree.
You don't meet the beautiful woman.
You're joking with an old crone.
It makes me want to cry how she detains you,
stinking mouthed, with a hundred talons,
putting her head over the roof edge to call down,
tasteless fig, fold over fold, empty
as dry-rotting garlic.
She has you tight by the belt,
even though there's no flower and no milk
inside her body.
Death will open your eyes
to what her face is: leather spine
of a black lizard. No more advise.
Let yourself be silently drawn
by the stronger pull of what you really love.
Class Discussion:
- Why does Rumi want to cry?
- What do the symbols of flower and milk represent?
- What does the man portrayed really love? What is he drawn to?
- Why does Rumi want to cry?
- What do the symbols of flower and milk represent?
- What does the man portrayed really love? What is he drawn to?