Talking can be sweet. A field can bloom in your
eyes when sharing words with the right person.
An invisible effulgence wafts out from a heart
that is happy. That is an oxygen to us.
In some cities, smoke stacks pollute the air and
harm the lungs of many creatures.
A good song fills our chests too, but can have
the opposite effect—everything it touches
may be better of.
There is a governor of every region of space,
a divine agent; he or she may remain hidden,
but their business is your soul, as it is mine.
Words can fertilize space now and then; don’t
deny yourself becoming enriched.
Find some ears that love the touch of your
sounds, and you theirs.
~ from The Purity of Desire, 100 Poems of Rumi, translated by
Daniel Ladinsky with Nancy Owen Barton (Penguin Books, 2012)
