Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World
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The past couple of weeks have been among the most difficult of my life. Because of my mother's brain cancer, she has been losing functionality and making erratic, potentially dangerous decisions, so we came to the difficult decision that we needed to check her into a nursing home. Having to face that choice was in itself wrenching since my mother has always been a very independent woman. Then I had to rush to establish power of attorney and take over her finances, track down all her bills, go through her paperwork, all while dealing with insurance and medical bureaucracy and, of course, visiting with my mother, comforting her, helping her to get settled in to her new environment. Then, in the midst of that, my uncle, a sweet, quiet man, died of a heart attack! The whole period felt like an intense meditation on aging, loss, and death -- with way too much bureaucracy thrown in. (Some day America will get a sane healthcare system.)
But, through all of that, I was also blessed to have some profoundly moving conversations with my mother. Even in the midst her mental confusion, she still speaks with an inner wisdom about what she is going through as she knowingly approaches her own death.
I may write more about this in the future, but it is all still a little too raw in my thoughts right now. And I still have paperwork to fill out....
Here is what I posted on Facebook recently:
Went to help my dying mother:
insurance,
forms, frantic phone calls.
And sweet, meandering talks
on how to wrap up a life.
Back home, the last of summer's roses.
--
I've been listening again to Ramananda's CD "Secret Language: Rumi - A Celebration in Song." Lines of Rumi poetry set to liquid grooves, with tabla, sometimes a breathy flute. When I first listened to the CD a few years ago, I didn't at first "get" it. It was one of those CDs I had to listen to two or three times before I found myself saying, Wow, this is wonderful! Strangely, most of my favorite CDs are that way...
...every need brings in what's needed
pain bears its cure like a child
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Ivan
M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright ©
2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or
publishers.
![Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry](images/RumiMevla_sm.jpg)
