Rumi
Word count: 162
Paragraphs: 10
Last night in my dream
Last night in my dream,
I saw my hunger. I saw my need.
I saw an emptiness only God can fill.
Enchanted by the beauty of this poverty,
I nearly fainted.
Enchanted by its perfection,
I lay awestruck till dawn.
This poverty is a mine of rubies.
Its red glow drapes me in silk.
The dead all leave something behind
The dead all leave something behind
Better a trail of good deeds
than a pile of coins.
The world remembers virtue –
and no one can steal it!
Haleh Liza Gafori is a translator, poet, performance artist, and composer born in NYC of Iranian descent. She was awarded a 2024 fellowship from the MacDowell Colony as well as a grant from the 2023 New York State Council on the Arts. Her book Gold which features her translations of poems by the 13th century sage and mystic, Rumi was published by New York Review Books Classics/Penguin Random House) in 2022.