I Will Meet You in The Field

The Field—A Little Bit More Than A Sijo 

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.)