800th B-day of "Most read poet in America today"
Today is the 800th birthday of Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, the great 13th century Persian poet, scholar, writer and sufi mystic (his students founded the still-going Mevlevi order of the Whirling Dervishes). According to the BBC he is the “most read poet in American today,” something due, unhappily, to a long line of newage (rhymes with sewage, as Nathaniel Tarn says) soporific translations that have turned Rumi’s work into Hallmark card tidbits of wishy washy pseudo-poesy and pseudo-wisdom. There is way more to the man and his work than our available English translations show. As Ulrich Holbein points out in a recent piece in the Frankfurter Rundschau:
Eurocentric literary history has no clue that the essay and digression, for whose invention Montaigne and Lawrence Sterne are celebrated, were already practiced audaciously by Rumi in his Masnavi [information on various abridged English versions – many dating back to the late 19th C – can be found here and online extracts here]: a mycelium- and mangrove-network of interwoven, laterally free-associating narrative threads… Rumi parables, rather than limping along like those of other metaphor creators, take off by tacking donkey tails to angel wings, and don’t dodge a crash: “A donkey, even if you fit it out with a hundred angel wings, will only ever fly back to its stable.” Which explains sufficiently why the reptilian brain will again and again outwit the cerebral cortex and it it not only today’s Sunnis, Shiites, Shahs and Imams who look totally unsublime, dogmatic, medieval, and archaic in comparison to Rumi… Even Maulana Eckhart looks narrow, dry, and conceptually confined next to Rumi, Angelus Silesius a bit chaste, naive, monochrome, x Nobel prize -winners and -minds deeply untalented, 365 catholic saints hopelessly unoriginal and 21 Christian heretics painfully orthodox. Here one of Rumi’s 1001 messages-in-a-bottle: “Your mind is small and you can lose even that little. A head without mind turns into a tail.”… Sufi-softie Rumi also polemics against the macho-society: “If this is supposed to constitute sexual intercourse, then the donkeys are winners; our spousal gang only relieves nature’s needs deep in our vulvas.”
This last quote is verse 3393 of volume 5 of the Masvani – rarely, if ever, found in our blighted, prude Victorian translations. Today, at a moment when Islamic intolerance and totalitarianism and its mirror image, Christian fundamentalist fascism, are locked in lethal combat, we are more than ever in need of an accurate, complete and unexpurgated translation of the works of Rumi.
“Interglacial Narrows (Poems 1915-2021)” Contra Mundum Press
“Always the Many, Never the One: Conversations In-between, with Florent Toniello” Contra Mundum Press
“Conversations in the Pyrenees”
“A Voice Full of Cities: The Collected Essays of Robert Kelly.” Edited by Pierre Joris & Peter Cockelbergh
“An American Suite” (Poems) —Inpatient Press
“Arabia (not so) Deserta” : Essays on Maghrebi & Mashreqi Writing & Culture
“Barzakh” (Poems 2000-2012)
“Fox-trails, -tales & -trots”
“The Agony of I.B.” — A play. Editions PHI & TNL 2016
“The Book of U / Le livre des cormorans”
“Memory Rose Into Threshold Speech: The Collected Earlier Poetry of Paul Celan”
“Paul Celan, Microliths They Are, Little Stones”
“Paul Celan: Breathturn into Timestead-The Collected Later Poetry.” Translated & with commentary by Pierre Joris. Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Most of the translations available are done by one Coleman Barks…
POETS ARE THE BELL RINGERS of THE SOUL
Poets as a rule are high on adventure
Like wondering bards or prophets today.
Embracing hearts and minds with wisdom
Casting through verse their visions at play.
Poets have their dreams and their nightmares
Of love, life, death, faith and war.
They feel the pain and tragedy of others
Even those they’ve never met before.
They fan the flames of human compassion
With their stories of the failings of man.
Professing to follow a higher power
As they recruit whomever they can.
Poets are the bell ringers of the soul
As they depict the past, the present and beyond.
They sound their alarm of what lies ahead
As the missteps of man live on.
By Conservative Poet
Tom Zart
Most Published Poet
On The Web
POETS AND POEMS
Poetry blossomed long before Shakespeare, Milton or Poe.
It thrived prior to Solomon and the languages of old.
Poetry today offers itself more often in the form of music
Then in sonnets and poems as the legends of life unfold.
Man has his fear of loneliness, death and the hereafter
As authors compose his doom, desperation and glory.
All hear the words of both good and evil
With too many that fall for the wrong story.
The falsehoods of life find it hard to hide
From the word of God’s poets and poems.
Sharing their joy, frustration and sorrow
By voice, Internet, radio, or books, in our homes.
Poets and poems help man become more human
As the storms of life proliferate their toll.
Poets and poems were put here for a reason
To help tame the savage that dwells in our soul.
GOD’S MOST HUMBLE POET
I’m God’s most humble poet
Whose poems have meter and rhyme.
Stories of love, faith, hate, honor and duty,
Obedience, war, heroes, history and crime.
I’ve performed my gift on T.V. and radio
Before millions I’ve never met.
Preached my praise of God and country
With 333 poems on the net.
Satan’s soldiers, shepherds and bards
Spew forth their foulness and grief.
They attack the joy and goodness of man
Dishonoring life, family, country and belief.
Prospering through work, love and conviction
Enables us to remain whole and how we should be.
Fortifying our soul with fulfillment of faith
Lets our worst tribulations be shouldered by Thee.
Moses, Samson, David, Solomon and Jonah
All failed God in their own human way.
He chose to forgive them and bless their powers
So they might dwell in hearts of man today.
Without God’s grace and glorious domain
There’s no doubt all would soon cease to survive.
Through purpose, morals and Christian conviction
We are able to transform and keep hope alive.
EDGAR ALLAN POE
One of America’s most famous writers
Was born in Boston, January of 1809.
Both his parents were failing actors
And his father was drunk most the time.
In 1810 Edgar’s dad disappeared
His mother died soon after.
A childless couple took him in
Raising him with love and laughter.
Edgar had a Negro nurse
Who brought him to her quarters.
There he listened to ghost stories
Far beyond earthly borders.
The strange tales he later wrote
May have come from her inspiration.
The words she used to describe death
Gave Poe his taste for sensation.
The Allans moved to England
Where Poe attended boarding schools.
There’s no doubt his time spent there
Sharpened his skills as tools.
Returning to Richmond and back in school
He began to compose new verse.
Heavy debts forced him to leave college
As his life took a turn for the worse.
Poe caught a ride on a coal barge to Boston
Where he was unable to find employment.
A young printer agreed to publish his poems
Giving him hope and enjoyment.
Penniless, Poe enlisted in the army
And was accepted to West Point in 29.
Poe couldn’t stand not being a writer
Self-imposing his dismissal from The Line.
Afterward he became an editor and critic
And married his cousin who was thirteen.
Six years latter he discovered she was dying
Suffering once more the unforeseen.
He went through periods of insanity
Caused by grieving and functional fall.
He smoked opium and drank too much
Till at his doorstep death would call.
Edgar Allan Poe the master of verse
Still lives in our hearts today
Famous for The Raven and other great works
May his soul rest in peace we pray.
GOD’S POETS
The prize jewels of any nation
Are the philosophers of the heart.
How they think is universal
For it’s God who makes them so smart.
Most poets tell the truth of life
Though they may wrap it in beauty.
It’s their passion, not their purpose
To compose is but their duty.
Poets have no reason to lie
When the truth is always so clear.
All that others say and do
Is but food for the poet’s ear.
One merit of a poet’s work
Which most people can’t deny.
They say more and in fewer words
To illuminate you and I.
God sent his poets down to earth
With words of wisdom and of worth.
That they might touch the souls of men
And bring them back to Him again.
A GOOD POEM
A good poem paints a picture
For both your heart and brain.
It doesn’t need a second chance
To make its meaning plain.
A good poem is like the flower
The lily or the rose.
God plants it in a poet’s brain
And there its beauty grows.
A good poem like a cardinal
Is pregnant with song
You can’t help but hear its message
As it sings what’s right or wrong.
A good poem helps us remember
What the joys of life are for
It makes us want to love someone
Till death comes knocking at our door.
POETRY
God has always had his poets
Who He watches with love from space.
But Satan has his poets too
Who try to lead us from our grace.
King Solomon was a poet
Who spoke of love, life, death and war.
That lips were like threads of scarlet
And that breasts were roses and more.
The wild birds sing and flowers bloom
As clouds form figures in the sky.
But only humans will write poems
That shall last long after they die.
The eldest sister of all arts
Which some have called the devils wine.
Poetry is but pure passion
To stimulate the heart and mind.
POET’S WIFE
My reciting seemed to delight her
Though for me it was love at first sight.
When she found out I was a poet
She asked, what kind do you write?
Love poems, mostly, I told her
While we walked alone in the park
Love’s fever became even warmer
As two shadows embraced in the dark
I’ll always remember when first we met
I whispered a poem in her ear.
Ever since then how happy I’ve been
And other women I’ve no need to be near.
They say that poets are divine
Though my wife would argue, that’s not true!
For, whenever I lose my direction
It’s she who tells me what to do.
Where the city ends and the suburbs begin
We’ve built our home beneath the sky.
We’ll raise our babies with truth and love
Till one or both of us die.
A verse a day, I always say
Helps keep lawyers from my door
For when I’m paid for what I write
My wife loves me a little more.
ALL POETS SERVE A MASTER
Most poets have a bit of Solomon
Shakespeare and Poe within.
Constantly eager to share their visions
Of love, life, joy and sin.
Some guzzle whiskey
Some sip wine
Some prefer cola
And feel just fine.
Some smoke pot
Or suck cigarettes
Some abuse drugs
With lifetime regrets.
Some attend church
And sing of God
While others make fun
And call them odd.
All have a purpose
Which drives them to compose.
All serve a master
Who by free will, they chose.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
I never write a poem
That doesn’t write itself.
I catch a buzz and come alive
Like a puppet off it’s shelf.
Hearing many voices
Whose words are never mine.
My pen becomes a painter’s brush
Forming visions on a line.
I seem to be a better person
When it’s time to sit down and write.
A higher power guides my hand
Sharing wisdom by day and night.
People born to create
Have no choice but to perform.
It’s the rush of sharing their gift
That elevates them from the norm.
What would our world become
Without intervention from above?
Angry beings in a revolving cage
With no sense of passion or love.
THE POWER of POETRY
Poetry is the lighthouse of life
Guiding the lost from a stormy sea.
Without it’s presence darkness prevails
Keeping us from all we can be.
Poems are used to convey passion
By poets of both good and evil mood.
Some are hateful others loving
Sharing thoughts to be consumed as food.
Verse can lead us to glory or doom
As we partake with others within.
Depicting our past, present and future
With words of man’s grace or sin.
People write poetry because they have no choice
Answering to the call of their gift.
Where some tend to pull their readers down
Others compose to give them a lift.
Always remember the power of poetry
Is used by both heaven and hell.
It’s up to us to choose our pleasure
As poetry remains alive and well.
WHISPERS of THE HEART
Poetry consumed is where wisdom begins
As we heed to the whispers of the heart.
It’s easy to blame others for our dismay
When from ignorance we refuse to part.
Verse is a beacon of hope in the darkness
To help us navigate the pitfalls of life.
Far more tend to write it, than read it
That’s why there’s endless conflict and strife.
I write poems to help fuel the light
By sharing what God has given me.
With stories of love, life, war and more
Where heroes pray on bended knee.
MASTERS of VERSE
Poetry is one of man’s oldest arts
Practiced long before words of print.
Every race had its masters of verse
In caves, huts, cabins or tent.
Stories in verse were handed down
From one generation to another.
The first told of love, war and more
And how to survive each other.
As man became more civilized
He could not help but wonder within.
Verse then took on a deeper meaning
With stories of faith, superstition and sin.
The act of reciting became in demand
As verse began to advance
Every tribe, city, town and village
Had someone who gave words romance.
Today’s poets are on the World Wide Web
Though many seem spiritually ill.
Thank heaven for all who still have God’s gift
To compose, teach, comfort and fulfill.
MY FAVORITE POET
My favorite poet is God above
Who gives Earth its rhythm and rhyme.
Not pied pipers of misguided souls
Who promote distrust, hatred and crime.
Poetry is nature serenading in song
The peaceful roar of the oceans waves.
The wind through the trees and over the hills
And the flowers in the fields by the graves.
The sound of rain as it waters the thirsty
The songs of children at play in the park.
The far off rumble of trains or thunder
As they pass through the night in the dark.
The joy of our babies first words and steps
The passion of life with its heroes and clowns.
The on going struggle to survive our sins
As we proliferate in hamlets and towns.
My favorite poet is our Father of love
Who was first to know us before birth.
His poetry prolongs every thing we love
As His deliverance gives life its worth.
THE POWER of WORDS
Words are the most powerful tools used by man
As hearts and souls reach for one another.
Sharing feelings of fear, wisdom and joy
Or our love for a significant other.
Where would we be without words
Which inspire, unite and motivate.
Songs, poems, stories, blogs, books
Wars, religion, love, lust and hate.
Jesus preached words to the multitudes
And nourish their hunger within.
The stories we tell portray our spirit
As examples of weakness, triumph or sin.
When we fail to control the rage of our thoughts
What is easy to say becomes hard to forgive.
Words are visions which portray our intent
The better we communicate, the better we live.
By Conservative Poet
Tom Zart
Most Published Poet
On The Web
TOM ZART’S RADIO POEMS
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