The Other Guesthouse
Rumi ran his guesthouse
With exceptional grace
Welcoming all comers
No matter how unruly—he’d set them a place
One crowd stole his furniture
And left his dwelling bare
Most proprietors would be furious
But Rumi didn’t care
‘They’ve made space for something new’
He said
‘I should thank them
It’s such a shame they’ve fled’
Even the most miserable callers
He’d meet them with good cheer
Preparing a wholesome dinner
And lending them his ear
He set the perfect example
Of how we all can live
Letting go of strife
Accepting life—as it is
Far away in Torquay…
Basil was the opposite
He did nothing but complain
If he thought his guests beneath him
He treat them with disdain
If however, he coveted their patronage
Thinking them high born
He’d make a total fool of himself
As he’d prance around and fawn
Desperate to climb the social ladder
He’d oft take things to far
Shouting at his waiter
And one time—giving a ‘good thrashing’ to his car
He’d rant and rave
And Effervesce
Lose his mind
Consumed by stress
No one would say Basil
Was an example of how to be
In every possible way
He’s the very opposite of Rumi
And yet…
Whilst the Sufi inspires serenity
As he patiently abides
Basil makes us laugh so hard
We nearly split our sides
His overwhelming need to be
Somewhere that he’s not
For some reason strikes a chord with us
It really hits the spot
Could it be we need a balance
Of contentment and progress
And Basil makes us laugh
Because he takes things to excess?
No doubt grace and tolerance
Are wonderful qualities to bring
But perhaps this being human
Won’t boil down to just one thing
The True Light
Upon hearing Hafiz’s poem
The Earth was overcome with gratitude
And set off to thank the Sun in person
She didn’t appreciate the distance involved
Or just how truly massive he would be
And as his searing heat grew and grew
She started to feel foolish
‘It appears I am nothing but a speck of dust
Millions and millions of miles away
This great Star will not even know of me
Never mind need my thanks’
Embarrassed, she turned to go…
But small as she was
The Sun caught sight of her
‘Wait’
He bellowed (So loud even Saturn heard him)
‘It is I who should thank you’
‘For billions of year
I shone unseen
Until you birthed the light of awareness
And my glory could finally be known
‘It is true, I and my brethren illuminate the cosmos
But without you
We would simply cease to be’
And so the Earth returned home
With a new sense of importance
At her role
In bringing the very cosmos into being