The Laughing Pomegranate
When you go to buy a pomegranate
Choose the one that’s laughing, the one with the split rind,
For its laughter reveals the seeds within.
Blessed is the pomegranate’s laughter.
lt gives voice to the heart inside, just as
The cracked shell of the spirit reveals the pearl within.
The unhappy laughter of the red tulip
Is not so blessed.
Its petals cloak the blackness of its heart
The pomegranate laughter sets the entire garden laughing
Just as the company of spiritual men stirs the soul.
Even if you are a rough stone,
When you join them you become a jewel.
Keep the love of holy laughing in you,
And bare your heart to those joyous hearts,
With laughter as your guide.
Do not be led by your body’s cravings
Down the street of hopelessness.
That way leads only to prisons of darkness.
Feed on the conversation of a Iover,
And seek the growth of your soul
From one who is farther along the path.
 ~ Rumi