Kabir Loses His Cup in Rumi’s Field

I am excited that another poet has submitted a poem for me to post on this blog. She enclosed this message with her poem. 

Hello, Pam. My friend Mary Bragg suggested I send the attached poem to you. I also read with a group of poets in Prescott, Arizona, and participate in a monthly Poets' Co-op meeting during which we share our work and seek feedback. I have been writing poetry since the 1970s, but only began sharing in public readings about three years ago. This poem was sparked by a sentence in Stephen Levine's memoir, Turning Toward the Mystery: A Seeker's Journey, one of those poetry flash fires that sometimes brings me a gift of information I didn't know I had.

 

I have been enjoying your poetry blog, and have signed up to receive your newsletter.

 

With thanks,

Sharon Seymour

I have read poems by Kabir and Rumi and enjoy them very much. I think you will enjoy this video ( youtube of Robert Bly  ) in which Robert Bly reads poems by Kabir. In it he claims that Kabir was Rumi's ancestor, but I don't think that is correct. According to Wikipedia Rumi lived about 200 years before Kabir.
I love the visual this poem creates. I can feel the excitement and energy of Kabir. I think you will like it as well as I do.  Thanks Sharon, I am very impressed.

Kabir Loses His Cup in Rumi’s Field

Such a beautiful cup, diamond vessel,

facets flashing, sun catcher.

Kabir runs, cap askew, robes flapping.

How can this treasure be lost?

Such a broad field,

vast rolling waves of grass;

where Kabir’s eye falls

red roses blossom.

Who is this approaching,

laughing, spinning sunwise,

hands open offering

everything.

Kabir’s eyes fill

and there! Just there!

Flash of diamond,

Run! There!

Cap lost,

flowers crushed,

falling exhausted,

knees sink onto shore,

grass-rimmed rill of clear water.

Kabir looks up, meets eyes,

compassion unbounded.

Hands dip into water,

lift, dripping diamonds.

Oh! This bottomless Cup!

 

Songwoman

February 21, 2013

Witness

Mary Carvell Bragg lives in Arizona and belongs to a circle of friends and fellow writers who get together and share their poetry and prose. I love her poems and have posted her poems in the past. I especially enjoy hearing her reading her own poems. (She recorded a cd called Vantage Point) Last week I offered to post poems for the readers of this blog and she offered this gem. This poem evokes strong visuals for me. I especially like the last line. It reminds me there is so much that happens in this world that goes unnoticed that may be more important than the events we are aware of. Thanks for sharing, Mary.

WITNESS

I was there when two drops of water

coalesced to jump-start an ocean

as Grandmother Spider’s tentative web

evolved into a masterpiece

when Venus and Mars

lined up beside the moon

I was there in the garden

with a serpent, a man, a woman

surrounded by trees laden with fruit

when everyone knew the language of animals

when a cave man uttered two Ughs

and his mate understood

I was with a virgin atop an Aztec teocalli

hands and feet bound, head back

neck offered to the blade

with Mary when the Archangel appeared

with Buddha under the bodhi tree

I was with homeless strangers

pooling body warmth to survive the night

with the Jews at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belson

when a second atomic bomb ravaged Nagasaki

when the last carrier pigeon fell unnoticed to the ground

—Mary Carvell Bragg