A Rumi Day!

That Journeys Are Good
           by Rumi

If a fir tree had a foot or two like a turtle, or a wing,
Do you think it would just wait for the saw to enter?

You know the sun journeys all night under the earth;
If it didn't, how could it throw up its flood of light in the east?

And salt water climbs with such marvelous swiftness to the sky.
If it didn't, how would the cabbages be fed with the rain?

Have you thought of Joseph lately? Didn't he leave his father in tears, going?
Didn't he then learn how to understand dreams, and give away grain?

And you, if you can't leave your country, you could go into yourself,
And become a ruby mine, open to the gifts of the sun.

You could travel from your manhood into the inner man, or from your womanhood into the inner woman --
By a journey of that sort earth became a place where you find gold.

So leave your complaints and self-pity and internalized death-energy.
Don't you realize how many fruits have already escaped out of sourness into sweetness?

A good source of sweetness is a teacher; mine is named Shams.
You know every fruit grows more handsome in the light of the sun.

Creative Write: Journey today in your writing. Consider how to turn the bitter into sweet. Become a ruby mine. Search for that place where you find gold. Avoid complaints and self-pity all day. If they trickle into your throughts, write them away. Use writing as your teacher.
Have the Best writing day!