One of my all time favorite poets is Rumi who was born under the same zodiac as I am. Not that it matters but it's cute to know anyhow. We are 7 centuries apart and yet I feel we are still connected. He was a teacher, a sufi, a poet, a mystic and a good friend to his best friend, Shams of Tabriz. His poetry speaks to me directly and makes me understand how a person should think and act. The poems are spiritual, humourous, humane, personal, universal, truthful, honest.

Below is one of my favorite poems which we were asked to memorize in college. This poem is meant to be performed not just read:

LIKE THIS
If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face
and say,
Like this

When someone mentions the gracefulness
of the nightsky, climb up on the roof
and dance and say,
Like this?

If someone asks you what "spirit" is,
or what "God's fragrance" means,
lean your head toward him or her
Keep your face there close.
Like this.

When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.
Like this?

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don't try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.
Like this. Like this.

When someone asks what it means
to "die for love," point
Here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your finger the space
between the creases on your forehead
This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body, then returns.
When someone doesn't believ that
walk back into my house
Like this.

When lovers moan,
they are telling our story.
Like this.

I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.
Like this.

When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.
Like this.

How did Joseph scent come to Jacob?
Huuuuuu.

How did Jacob's sight return?
Huuuuuu.

A little wind cleans the eyes.
Like this.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he'll put his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us.
Like this.

from "The Essential Rumi" trans. by Coleman Barks