I'll go on


How can I move across this space?
i start with a dot not a line
the dot I'm standing on
from the dot I extend a line towards the unknown
that it
may be illuminated

I cast off my moorings I lean into a wild tenderness

What's the sea like once you let go of that rope?

The form is the vessel, as Rumi says, to hold the meaning

13 comments:

Jon said...

Hi all,

This is a line from human being that I remember from a chain poem written with a group of bloggers last summer. I loved this line then and it's come up many times since...

I asked someone I knew if they'd translate it into Farisi for me so I could share it on this site...

I was hoping that for this post we could try another chain (Seeing as it's the last line from Beckett and a really important one for the text)?

What do you think?

Any line you'd like to add please leave in a comment and I'll be sure to put it up. If there's a line left as a comment that hasn't been added please follow after that one.

The first line I'd like to propose:

=======================

How can I move across this space?

human being said...

JON!

What have you done! this entanglement!
are you walking in my mind?

you made me cry... with joy...

these two recent posts... SOOOOOOO CLOSE to those i wanted to add... (this post and the previous one...)

the Farsi words... with that colloquial tone... so innocent and at the same time graceful...

i felt as if i'm reading a holy script... the magic was not in the words... it was in your choice...
OMG!

please add these two in the comments of Exteriority...

i'm so happy... the way you continued... this is exactly what should take place in all the communications... in all the give-and-takes...

a river flows... alive and growing... changing... going...

i bow to you for the way you're walking on your path... with all your being.... becoming one with it...

--- "the way i follow is me" ---
:)

the line i add:


i start with a dot not a line
the dot i'm standing on

the walking man said...

How can I move across this space?
i start with a dot not a line
the dot i'm standing on
I extend the line towards the unknown that it may become illuminated.

human being said...

hey dear walking friend,
i cannot dig the logic:

the second line says i start with a dot not a line...
then what is that 'line' you are so beautifully speaking about?

did you want to write,
I extend the dot towards the...

can you explain this for the crow?
thanks
and apologies for being so snoopy!

the walking man said...

Ah yes I see. I am missing the mark it should be ...from the dot I extend a line to...The dot being the point where the pencil rests before its first step on the page.

Jon said...

Hi human being and the walking man... thank you both for your lines. I've added them into the chain.

human being:

I'm glad you like this... I don't understand Fairsi so I'll have to take your word for it that it's colloquial... it was a lovely favor someone did for me to have it made.. can you say more about the subtly of the language... what I mean to say it that I don't know how to make "all ways are circles..." more like that in english... know what I mean???

walking man:

If you would like to make a change let me know. I hope you don't think I've taken liberties. That is the last thing I want to do. Let me know what you think...

thanks again

the walking man said...

John you got it right, exactly I should have left out the "The dot being the point where the pencil rests before its first step on the page." because it was explanatory.

I should have edited it but it would have been as you did except for a line break

How can I move across this space?
i start with a dot not a line
the dot I'm standing on
from the dot I extend a line towards the unknown
that it may be illuminated

the walking man said...

OR

How can I move across this space?
i start with a dot not a line
the dot I'm standing on
from the dot I extend
a line towards the unknown
that it
may be illuminated

human being said...

very beauiful... the last take...
:)

Jon...
re: the translation... you mean you want the Farsi version to be as concise as the English one?
yes... that's possible... this beautiful one you've got here is a bit interpretative...
keep this gem as it is... as it is a favor from a friend, it's beauty is double...

the literal translation:


-----------/همه ی راه ها دایره اند
--------------/همه ی رفتن ها بازگشتن

human being said...

-------------------/همه ی راه ها دایره اند
-------------------/همه ی رفتن ها بازگشتن

Harlequin said...

from a dot I extend the line towards the unknown that it may be illuminated

and I will add:
I cast off my moorings I lean into a wild tenderness

Jon said...

HB

said it before I'll say it again... word written in your language is so much more beautiful than word in mine... maybe it makes great poets... these roman sign posts are a bit stale... you think???

Harle,

thanks for your line... and a question for you back:

what's the sea like once you let go of that rope?

human being said...

Jon...
the form is a vessel, as Rumi says... to hold the meaning...

and the intersting point is that Iranians wrote differently hunderd years ago... when Arabs invaded our land they ruined and burned everything and imposed their handwriting on us.... and Iranian exalted it in a way no Arabs could imagine...

see Jon? when you have prepared a very good meal, you don't put it in any dish... you choose the best you have...

what did they want to say that they made such a beautiful vessel for their thoughts?
:)
this is for you:
جان

helps you to find the answer...