the olive ream

I dream of high clouds
Flushed with the light of daybreak

What we gonna do when the
money runs out
I wish that there was something left to say
How we gonna find the eyes to see
a brighter day

I’m falling by the wayside
I’m sinking with the sun
Everything I do
Is wrong

I’m delirious with chaos
I’m wonderstruck with awe

The state I’m in
Got goosebumps on my skin
See the water I’ll jump right in
Your heart so free

They come from miles around
In avarice and love
To suckle on the blood
Of some forgotten god
Sell it like it is
It’s like the old man says
We’re dead in the water now

Take your eyes off me
There’s nothing here to see
Just trying to keep my head together
And as we make our vow
Let us remember how
There’s nothing good that lasts forever
—

Photos: Mine
Words: David Gray

There’s a mosque here in Dubai, with two separate entrances. The main entrance leads one to the main prayer hall and a second entrance to the side of the mosque displays the following sign:

For those unable to understand Arabic or Urdu, the sign in English presents a very different meaning. When it first caught my eye, I was like, “Ooh, I’m in here!”

And before anyone of you claim that this is blashphemy, let me just clarify that God does have a sense of humour. How else would you explain the Duckbill Platypus or even George W. Bush, for example?

…one afternoon in March

Thank you to Raza for inspiring me to restart my photoblog here.

Remember me.

I will be with you in the grave
on the night you leave behind
your shop and your family.
When you hear my soft voice
echoing in your tomb,
you will realize
that you were never hidden from my eyes.
I am the pure awareness within your heart,
with you during joy and celebration,
suffering and despair.

On that strange and fateful night
you will hear a familar voice –
you’ll be rescued from the fangs of snakes
and the searing sting of scorpions.
The euphoria of love will sweep over your grave;
it will bring wine and friends, candles and food.

When the light of realization dawns,
shouting and upheaval
will rise up from the graves!
The dust of ages will be stirred
by the cities of ecstasy,
by the banging of drums,
by the clamor of revolt!

Dead bodies will tear off their shrouds
and stuff their ears in fright–
What use are the senses and the ears
before the blast of that Trumpet?

Look and you will see my form
whether you are looking at yourself
or toward that noise and confusion.

Don’t be blurry-eyed,
See me clearly-
See my beauty without the old eyes of delusion.

Beware! Beware!
Don’t mistake me for this human form.
The soul is not obscured by forms.
Even if it were wrapped in a hundred folds of felt
the rays of the soul’s light
would still shine through.

Beat the drum,
Follow the minstrels of the city.
It’s a day of renewal
when every young man
walks boldly on the path of love.

Had everyone sought God
Instead of crumbs and copper coins
T’hey would not be sitting on the edge of the moat
in darkness and regret.

What kind of gossip-house
have you opened in our city?
Close your lips
and shine on the world
like loving sunlight.

Shine like the Sun of Tabriz rising in the East.
Shine like the star of victory.
Shine like the whole universe is yours

translated by Jonathan Star
“Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved”