Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi: "Begin"

This is now. Now is. Don’t
postpone till then. Spend

the spark of iron on stone.
Sit at the head of the table;

dip your spoon in the bowl.
Seat yourself next to your joy

and have your awakened soul
pour wine. Branches in the

spring wind, easy dance of
jasmine and cypress. Cloth

for green robes has been cut
from pure absence. You’re

the tailor, settled among his
shop goods, quietly sewing.

"Begin" by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, from The Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks. © HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.  

Photography credit: "Rustic Spoon and Bowl," by corbisrffancy (originally color).