PHILOSOPHY AND POETRY

Bu Ali¹⁶ got lost
In the dust
Kicked up by
Laila’s¹⁷ dromedary.
Rumi’s¹⁸ hand
Seized the curtain
Of her litter.
This one dived
Deeper, deeper still,
Till he came
Upon the pearl
He was after.
But the other
Got caught in
A whirlpool like a piece of straw.
If the truth
Has no fervour,
It is plain philosophy.
If it has the proper fervour,
It is poetry.