Undressing - Jellaludin Rumi

[Larry Robinson]

Undressing
 
Learn the alchemy
true human beings know.
The moment you accept what troubles you've been given,
the door will open.
 
Welcome difficulty as a familiar comrade.
Joke with torment brought by the Friend.
Sorrows are the rags of old clothes and jackets
that serve to cover, then are taken off.
 
That undressing
and the beautiful naked body underneath,
is the sweetness that comes after grief.
The hurt you embrace
becomes joy.
Call it to your arms where it can change.
 
	- Jellaludin Rumi
 (Translated by Coleman Barks)