Wendy Haynes
‘Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
— Jelaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
Before I meet you there, may I steal a moment
to breathe out,
to offer myself some tender, loving kindness
and mercy,
resolve a false image I carry of you
as enemy.
I will breathe in,
then,
I’ll meet you there,
in that field.
{And breathe out.}
(Sijo: a Japanese poem with three lines; each line has 15 syllables.)