Daily Sip - Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,
Break all our teacup talk of God.

If you had the courage and
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
He would just drag you around the room
By your hair,
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world
That bring you no joy.

Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly
And wants to rip to shreds
All your erroneous notions of truth

That make you fight within yourself, dear one,
And with others,

Causing the world to weep
On too many fine days.

God wants to manhandle us,
Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself
And practice His dropkick.

The Beloved sometimes wants
To do us a great favor:

Hold us upside down
And shake all the nonsense out.

But when we hear
He is in such a "playful drunken mood"
Most everyone I know
Quickly packs their bags and hightails it
Out of town.

-Hafiz (1320-1389)

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Maybe it's the nature of translation, but to me this reads so much like a modern poem - not something 700 years old. Thoughts?

Wow, what a scary poem! I've never thought of love in this rough, man-handling sense... different. Definitely different.

This is 700 years old? Yeah. Reads like a modern poem.

Good pick.

Tough love for sure. I kind of get it though... if God is sitting around up there watching us, I wouldn't be surprised if he sometimes felt like shaking us by the shoulders, saying "Stop acting so ridiculous! Why are you f***ing things up so much for yourself! I love you, Me dammit, why can't you see it?"

Ok, maybe God wouldn't curse using his own name, but still. Maybe it's like if you see someone you love destroying themselves with drugs or alcohol or other destructive decisions. You love them, but because you love them you want to smack some sense into them.

That is probably the sexiest piece of poetry I've read in a long time. Nice one Sibs...

Angry sex! Sounds familiar

Hmmmm... I have read this twice. I sense I could get different versions of it. I, surprisingly, was not seeing the erotic side of it so much even though I was, of course, relating it to me. I find that I love very fiercely, so fiercely that I want to hurt us just a little bit- perhaps to stop making things so complacently perfect. If love is slathered thickly, I want to see how thin it stretches. I want to use harsh words to see the effect, I want to give love bites that are a little sharper so that he yowls in irritation, I sometimes want to sabotage our plans for a wonderful night out by requesting a quiet night in. I want to shake things up, just to see how we resettle again, clicking together in new formations. I do similar things with my family too (without the love bites). Pretty effing effed, but that's what love is to many. A tooth that aches deliciously when prodded.

But that's just my initial reaction. I have to read more into the God-practicing-a-dropkick side of things.