NEWS - GEOFF'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION FOR DECEMBER

Rumi’s ‘The Big Red Book. by the Rumi Scholar, Coleman Barks.

I thought we’d continue on the theme of celebrating poets and their work, because it resonates so much with two of the characters in the World of 0w1 series of books. So here is my recommendation for the month of December, Rumi’s The Big Red Book.

It’s not often that poets are actual mystics and not just posing as one. However, with Rumi we can rest assured that the term mystic is a perfect fit.

Jalal al-Din Rumi was a 13th Century poet and mystic and is America’s Best-Selling Poet. I know, who’d a thought that a Persian poet could have such an impact. I think this may be due to Bark’s continual efforts to publish the poet’s work.

I want to share one of his poem’s called, ‘The Importance of Setting Out’, because with any artistic endeavour, we need to be bold and step out into the public domain. The aim is to create something for your audience. You may not get the immediate traction that you desire, but the important thing is to step out and to be patient enough whilst others seem to surpass your success.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING OUT:

If a tree could fly off, it would not suffer the saw.

The sun hurries all night to be back for morning.

Salty water rises in the air,

so the garden will be drenched with fresh rain.

A drop leaves home,

enters a certain shell, and becomes a pearl.

Joseph turns from his weeping father, toward Egypt.

Remember how that turned out.

Journeys bring power and love back into you.

If you cannot go somewhere,

move in the passageways of the self.

They are like shafts of light, always changing,

and you change when you explore them.

Geoff Hall

Geoff Hall