no flag...

i continue to return to this poem
written nearly 800 years ago
by mawlana jalaluddin rumi
(translated by coleman barks)

:: no flag ::

i used to want buyers for my words.
now i wish someone would buy me away from words.

i've made a lot of charmingly profound images,
scenes with abraham, and abraham's father, azar,
who was also famous for icons.

i'm so tired of what i've been doing.

then one image without form came,
and i quit.

look for someone else to tend the shop.
i'm out of the image-making business.

finally i know the freedom
of madness.

a random image arrives. i scream,
"get out!" it disintegrates.

only love.
only the holder the flag fits into,
and wind. no flag.

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