Burning bright
Hello Universe 263
When I tell people that I’ve been writing poems for a few years, one of the things they ask me right away is “What’s your favorite poem?”
Well, as regular readers know, I often struggle to make choices, and this applies to choosing a single favorite poem. So instead of one favorite, I have many, and one of them is this excerpt about moths and the flame from the english translation of the legendary sufi poem “Conference of the Birds” by the 12th century poet Fariduddin Attar of Nishapur.
While any description I can provide for Conference of the Birds is insufficient, here is a fantastic video covering both Attar’s life and his poem.
In my favorite part, the excerpt about the moths and the flame, Attar brings to life the Sufi concept of “fanaa”, of dissolving oneself into a pursuit, as illustrated by the moth who dissolves away in the flame.
One may look at the flame from a distance and try to describe how it feels, but the true understanding of the flame’s brightness only comes to the moth who itself burns in it. This poem speaks to me at a deep, fundamental level, as I have embarked on a pursuit of my own in which I seek to dissolve myself. And the poem I have written today, is my homage to it, written from the perspective of the moth who burns in the flame.
Alright, poem starts in 3… 2… 1!
I saw the flame, I saw the light, I've jumped in, now I'm burning bright. The flame, it was once in my sight. Now I am it, I'm burning bright. Nowhere to run, nowhere to fly. This is my earth, this is my sky. There is no me, there is no I. No words, no why, no thoughts, no sigh. I burn away, I am the flame. The shining light's what I became. I don't exist, I have no name. The flame and me, we are the same. There is no time here as I burn, no going back, there's no return. There is no more for which I yearn, for this is it, I'm bright, I burn.
That’s it! Thanks for reading edition 263 of Hello Universe. I wrote this poem because to some extent, I feel like the moth who jumped into the flame, and I wanted to capture the feeling of being one with the light as I go through it. The poem feels a bit incomplete, it has no resolution, but it is impossible for me to think of a resolution today as I go through the experience. Maybe someday, once I know enough, I will write what it is like to be on the other side of the light.
Have you ever immersed yourself so deep into a pursuit that you became one with it? I am curious to know! Please share your thoughts in the comments with the Hello Universe community.
That’s it for this week, wish me luck as I go through this journey of immersion. See you next Tuesday!