Photo of me on the Union College Campus. I couldn’t think of what better image to put along with this article.
The Music by Hafiz
Many people don’t know it is my friend’s words on the bumper sticker, “Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that: It lights the whole sky.”
Hafiz became my dearest friend the moment I heard their loving, harsh words, “Fear is the cheapest room in the house—I would like to see you living in better conditions.”
I don’t remember the question I asked when I boldly opted, years ago, to write with a question. I remember never expecting a response.
I believe the response was: “Beloved Brian. I’ve not had such a good laugh in a long time. I thank you. Indeed, BB, you supposed correctly—I have no secrets I’ve not shared already.”
Last week, after walking the dogs, I found the following poem on the kitchen table.
It seems it was written by Hafiz’s child.
Enjoy.
(It would be terribly ironic not to.)
💙
rB
The Music
By Abnaa Hafiz
Might you be more connected to the music?
Trombone, stand-up base, keyboard, and drums on stage.
Blues.
Jamming.
Sounds freely copulate.
A smooth and groovy vibe.
Two littles.
Not yet walking unassisted.
Stand, bopping, by the feet of their adults.
The music moves them.
Literally.
And, in turn, every next note—played or not
Is determined
Some, by the syncopated movement of these two young (and only) dancers.
Are you as embodied as those bopping boppers?
Thoughtless.
Or, like the parents standing, swaying their hips, helicoptering,
at the ready.
Or, perhaps, you taste the sacred silence Rumi spoke of
where
everything is music.
Your gaze
glimmers.
Do you know
Sound exists only in the ear’s hearing.
Music in your ear.
Two rows behind two toddlers’ mosh-pit, I listen.
Thinking.
Might you be more connected to the music?
Asking for a friend.
Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer resides in Portland, Oregon. He is the founder and head of Religion-Outside-The-Box oldrotb.wpengine.com, an internet-based, global group of 3.3K+ digital-age seekers. ROTB produces excellent spiritual content.
