Naw Ruz Symphony

NAW RUZ SYMPHONY

The thinker walked out onto the veranda. The day was ending as he stepped out to watch the last rays of the sun as it set on yet another day, and another year. The cloudy skies grew dimmer as the sun was taking its leave for the day. The breeze was both cool and pleasant. It was a breeze scented with flowers and carrying the first butterflies of the season. He reached the balcony with his yet untouched cup of hot tea and gazed down the steep hill to the valley below and the range of hills that followed. A few cars could be seen lazily making their way through the valley with a pristine forest as a backdrop. On the near side of the road was a horse training field at this moment unused. The multiple shades of green that filled his gaze seemed to become him to welcome the first day of spring. His gaze was taken to the sun as it was setting behind the hills. A deep dark red cut through the clouds in what appeared to be lines that faintly resembled the outline of that life giving orb. It was a sight that cinematographers long to capture.

As the sun set, the thinker reflected upon his fast about to end and the new year that was about to begin. The ending of the fast left him longing for what he knew was becoming harder and harder to endure, yet there was a joy in the New Year that was beginning and the spring that was blooming before his eyes. He raised the cup of tea and then lowered it as he heard a bird begin to call. The dusk had inspired and evoked the bird to call out its sweet melodies. All thoughts left him as his heart danced to the dulcet notes sung by that bird. He could not let go of the moment, he was at peace. Nothing seemed to matter. The breeze that continued to caress him and the symphony of nature in his ears was almost to perfection. He raised his cup of tea again, yet hesitated to lose the moment. It was at that point that another voice entered the scene, the sound of a peacock calling from the valley below. He smiled. What more perfect moment could there be to end ones fast and begin a new year. He raised the cup to his lips, looked to the place where the sun was last seen and took his first sip of tea of the New Year.

-Shiidon, March 21, 2011

So, this is the first day of the Bahá'í New Year. I had a great time having my first lunch in 20 days with friends. It was, however, the evening before that inspired this short narrative. I was invited last night to the house of some friends. I was with people that have known me the longest in my life. It was an evening of love and fellowship. I would love to say that this narrative was inspired by that night, but it was not quite like that. You see it was, word for word, what happened to me last night. It was a surreal experience and it begged to be recorded. The sound of the peacock was what took me away to another place. It was almost perfection itself. I love peacocks. I love the way they look and the mystical symbol they represent to me.

Naw Ruz is also the Persian New Year which has been celebrated for over 2000 years. I was raised with Naw Ruz as the gift giving time and it was, like Thanksgiving, a time for family to gather and celebrate together. From a Bahá'í perspective it is the beginning of a New Year and the end of the 19 day period of fasting. Last night marked the first year of fasting for one of the youth present and the end of a life of fasting for another who will no longer be obliged to do so. It was a special time and I will not forget it for a long time to come.

For those of you who are Bahá'í or Persian, happy Naw Ruz. For those in the northern hemisphere, welcome to another Spring.

Inner Meaning

INNER MEANING

When I thought, myself alone

T’was my reality

what have known

Now, as I open my eye

Thoughtful I reflect

On all I spy

And realize

That I’m not alone

Whether I’m about

Or at home

There is music,

That takes me

To places on high

Giving me wings

Souring, I fly

I am moved

By many a scene

Of purity proved

And the joy that surrounds

Thank You, for this world I’ve seen

To the places I’ve lived

To the ones I’ve been

Thank You, for my fellow man

For each one a brother

I have found

And this I say,

Is quite profound

Thank you so much

For the gift of love

For me to share

And receive from above

I am truly not alone

When in each person, place and thing

My heart finds a home

-Shiidon, March 2011

So the clock winds down on this last day of fasting for me. I refrained from food and water during daylight hours for 19 days now. This evening the Bahá'í New Year will have arrived. It is not the abstaining from food that has had an impact on me as much as it is the cleansing of self and the recharging of the spirit. It is quite refreshing. To my Bahá'í friends, Happy New year. To the rest I wish a great first day of Spring.

Communion

COMMUNION

As I search

This world I know

The more I see

The more I grow

I’ve had many dreams

And as time, comes to pass

They seem to evaporate, alas

The one constant

That remains

Ti’s the certainty

Of growing pains

And the dross of self

Like weighted chains

We must ourselves develop

Lest lethargy and loss

Our-self envelop

The destiny, that we control

Compared to our dreams

May seem droll

But the essence is

Developing our soul

What better

More lofty goal

If what I understand is true

This world of ours

Will see it’s due

And we will awaken one day

To a world more true

We will find ourselves

In another place

Among the whole

Of the human race

Beyond this understanding

Of time and space

What we’ve done

In this world of ours

Our birth from suffering

Our growth from scars

Will determine our place

Among those eternal stars

How fleeting it seems

Are those lost dreams

When compared in purpose

To what God deems

For His words given

The purpose of which

Many souls have striven

Is to prepare us

For the world to come

And the truest self

That we become

-Shiidon, March 2011

There are different sources of inspiration for my poems. Many times it is my muse of the time, whether a person or a place, but sometimes it is something else. This poem bears it's beginnings at this time when I am fasting. The Bahá''í calendar is divided into nineteen months with nineteen days each and 4-5 days that are intercalary days each year. The Bahá'í new year is the first day of Spring, or March 21st. The month directly preceding the new year is our month of fasting. So, after that long explanation I sit here on the twelfth day of no food or drink between sunrise and sunset. It is interesting what occupies your time when you don't watch TV, live alone and then find yourself not spending time focusing on this world of needs such as food and drink. One of my favorite quotes helps explain this and I will post it at the end of this post. There is a lot of self reflection that happens now for me. I find myself reflecting on attachment and detachment. After I wrote this poem I looked at it and sat wondering where it came from. The words just flew at me as I wrote it and I was able to document was was emoting from my heart at the time.

I have come to realize how short life is and how much time is wasted on wishing for, or dreaming on things that may or may not come to pass. I have no friendships that I consider changed in my life. I could see or not see someone over time and to me I can pick up right where things were before. I look at my life and the lives of others and realize that we are all faced with our own challenges to overcome and those can bring us together or take us apart. There is still, however, the language of the heart. I do believe that we commune together in the next plain of existence. I think that we are not as separated from it as we think we are. I believe that the fears and misunderstandings that we sometimes have towards each other are nonexistent there. So, I act as if that is the case. The only time that it seems to hurt though, is when I expose my inner self and allow someone to see my vulnerabilities. I never know if they have truly understood me or not. That is in some small way why I write these poems and post these comments. It is a way of attempting to be understood.

For now, this bird is briefly soaring in the skies.

Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge. -Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings page 323

A Truer Sense of Destiny

A TRUER SENSE OF DESTINY

The peace that would

Come over me

Is in the other

That I would see

For once I thought

With another

I was meant to be

A somewhat sense of destiny

But now I sit

Somewhat numb

At this person

That I’ve become

No longer longing

For one to come

To the tides of change

Do I succumb

This new place

That I have found

Has provided me

With new ground

And with new freedom

Am unbound

And new learning of self,

Profound

So much time lost

To distraction

And the inevitable

Inaction

The elusive attraction

And a spiraling reaction

I see new light

Not as rejection

But upon, introspection

And reflection

I have found

My new direction

I no longer

Let time slip by

Contemplating this question, “why”

I move forward, energetically

Fighting off

This entropy

I do not say

That this way, won’t change

I simply say

Tis a life, rearranged

I embrace this new world

More complete

Not lacking

But with assurance, replete

So I advance

Hither and yon

In a new state, do I belong

No path, seemingly wrong

I go forth

A life more strong

The way, I was meant to be

A truer sense, of destiny

-Shiidon, March 2011

Well the second day of fasting is over for me and things are going fine. No food or drink for daylight hours leaves a lot of time to reflect on life it's direction. While I have not experienced any profound changes in life I do feel more and more at peace with the world I find myself in. China still draws at my heart and yet my children and granddaughter are here. My parents are in the sunset of their lives in this realm of existence and I am beginning to find myself taking their place, an elder in waiting so to speak.

I look at the world around and see amazing changes. It looks at first to be chaos and discontent but it is the beginnings of a world that is tired of the yolk of business as usual and that frustration is manifesting itself in a sort of venting. The fruition of a system that will answer these cries for change will come but not yet. We still need to see the flaws in our systems for what they are so that we can improve upon them and find ourselves in a paradigm that will make the world we know now as alien to us as the world of our forefathers. I believe it will happen, but not before much more turmoil, suffering and change. Discontent is rife. So enough of this. What is it I can do? I can continue to be the best person that I can be. I can strive to help my fellow man. I can try to exemplify honesty and service in my daily life. I can continue to write my poetry and stories and try to make a positive impact on my neighborhood and community. One day we will realize how much we are all alike, brothers and sisters in this short but adventurous life.