I have a young granddaughter who loves to swing. My son keeps a swing set well maintained in their backyard for her. Often, when visiting, I will look around for her and find she has slipped out of the clutch of family activities and she has slid into her happy place in the backyard swing. She pumps her legs and climbs higher and higher letting gravity swallow her safely as she falls. She will do this meditation for an hour or as long as it takes, undeterred. She does it because it feels good. She does this perhaps, too, so she can always remember what it feels like to lose herself to gravity and feel the exciting comfort of being in the flow of one's life.
I think what Hafiz is suggesting in this poem is that we need to examine our choices that we make with our life and do not succumb to forgetting that whatever choices we make, we can learn and move on. We can examine the talents and tools that we are given, put our strength into those choices. Let gravity do what it does best and our will to succeed carry us though.
This poem reminds me of my granddaughter's innate genius and my wish for her autonomy in this life. May she always appreciate the magic of her choices and the power of her intention. May she know love and mix that into how she constructs a life of abundant joy. with "...golden saws, and silver hammers..."
Thank you for listening.
Music: I love this song and how the basic beat drums from what sounds like a human heart on the edge. It speaks about choices and chances we make and take; the drive to bring what is best of us forward and into the world, have it fail then go at it again with hammer and saw. We can be anything we want if we learn how to release what is untrue in ourselves; if we remember to swing with what is real, including the false starts, and mix in what is the best 0f ourselves.
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Photo Credit: Emma Watson 2009. ©Warner Bros courtesy Everett Collection Everett Collection
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz can be found here.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.