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Last Night, As I Was Sleeping

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Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night, as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

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ANTONIO MACHADO

(from Times Alone Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly,1983, Wesleyan University Press)
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Apple Tree

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“When Rumi went into the tavern
 I followed.”
—Mary Oliver, “Rumi” (Blue Horses)

It’s easy to drink this wine in the world.
The tavern is always open.

Even in broad day, every star is beaming its light.
The Swan spreads its wings above you.
Moon is tipsy with sky.
And the apple tree, leafless, is planning a sweet surprise for October.

Likewise, your heart knows its need for winter.
Naked just now, it is weaving a coat for some threadbare stranger.

It might be the girl buried alive with four dead brothers.
It might be the pilot who sent those missiles.
It might be the politicians who seem beyond saving, trapped
in the news and wanting you dead without knowing.

Here in your cups you know very well this is personal.
Child and villain—they are surely one and the same Beloved.
Drink up! There is never last call in this tavern.

When your chest is full of that wine,
your heart can dare the most doubtful adventure.
Not even a blizzard can stop it, not even a drought.
On dusty feet or frozen, it speeds unabashed through desert and flood
to child, to villain, to whomever you hasten to send it, drunkard.

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CHRIS ELLERY
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Intoxicated with Love Tonight

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Musicians recite your praises tonight
Crying out to the Beloved in many languages
They sing with all their might

Poets write crazy verses to the Beloved tonight
Igniting our hearts in fiery love’s unity
Finding the right words to praise her to new height

Anything seems possible tonight
Restoring sight to the blind, resurrecting the dead,
or parting the Red Sea in Moses’s flight

Charon ferries us across the River Styx tonight
Passing the frightened hungry ghosts,
we all have the promised land in sight

All our dreams are fulfilled tonight
The inner teacher seals our instructions
Binding us to the Beloved in a solemn marriage rite

We all travel the road of heart tonight
Whichever direction this pilgrimage takes us,
we bask in your radiant light

We recite your name in unison tonight
Hearts beating as one, we now hear,
with God’s ears and see with God’s sight

Oh, Cupbearer pour us your wine tonight
So, we may drink of Divine Unity,
that makes our souls alight

Our chef has outdone herself tonight
Infusing each bite with the right herbs and spices
Satisfying the lover’s craving appetite

Heaven bestows your radiant light tonight
With white lightning flashes piercing our souls
Across a field of stars, waves of ecstasy ignite

We are intoxicated with love tonight
Abandoning all thought of past and future,
we unite with the Beloved in eternal kiss’s delight

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ROBERT STERNAU
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