What you ache for

photo copyright Maranda Pleasant 2007

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's
longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love,
for your dream,
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your
moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your
own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of
further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,
mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful,
to be realistic,
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be
true to yourself,
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not
betray your own soul;
if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty,
even when it's not pretty,
every day,
and if you can source your own life from its presence.


I want to know if you can live with failure,
yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to
the silver of the full
moon,
"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how
much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up,
after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to
be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the
fire with me and not
shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you
have studied.
I want to know what sustains you,
from the inside,
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep in the
empty moments

-Rumi