Tulip in the Desert

And men loved darkness rather than the light
---John, III:19

Ay, it is sweet! Half hidden,--half revealed--
You see the dark folds of my shrouding cloak,
And I, the glimmering whiteness of your dress:
I but a shadow--you a radiance fair!
---Cyrano to Roxanne

I’ve seen before
how you beautify empty places,
and it seems that with your grave,
silent, aspect you bear witness,
reminding the passer-by
of that lost empire.
Now I see you again on this land,
a lover of sad places abandoned by the world.

---Leopardi (or Roxanne to Cyrano)

Why so downcast, my soul
why do you sigh within me
---Psalms.

Sadly, a long time ago
My voice fell mute.
Have my clothes to wear,
Answer my fears with silence,
Let the wind blow
Through your hair, smell of the lilac.
You have come by a hard road
To be lit up by this fire.

---Anna Akhmatova


Autumn drifts by, but the heart is not sad. I hear the voice of loved ones calling me all the time. And though the blue flames of love mourn the loss of the red still blossoms fall, spring arrives, ice melts. I am lost but have made a home here! And still, within the ashes of the world a spark may be found. In the desert of the heart are hidden many gardens, and deer roam freely and aimlessly, guided not by your footprints, but by your scent. In the spent clouds lies dormant, to this very day, many a flash of lightning. In the wilderness is a tulip, scarred but at peace.
--after Iqbal