All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.

I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.

Hafiz’s Poem 18:

Hey, fly

The realm of the simurgh

Is not your arena

Some thoughts:

A simurgh is a mythical beast in Persian mythology that is a huge benevolent bird creature who is part dog and all amazing. They are said to be older than the dinosaurs, so old they have seen the destruction of the earth at least 3 times. They return like the phoenix and are powerful enough to carry off an elephant. When one took flight, it shook the tree of life and all the seeds of the entire plant kingdom scattered on the wind to populate the earth with every herb, vegetable, and fruit we now have.

Flies…not so much. No one is as impressed by a fly. Perhaps Hafiz is gently telling someone to stay in their lane. Walk before they run. Learn the basics before trying to take on more complex levels. Whoever or whatever he is referring to sounds like a little chihuahua who thinks she can take on a bear. The spirit is impressive, but the reality it a little harsher. As much as we all want to dream big and believe we are capable of anything we set our minds to, it is probably best to also prepare and take the right steps to get to the next level of progress. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll fly with the simurgh.

My Poem 18:

Fly is an opportunistic nuisance,
irritating background noise with
indiscriminate hunger drawn to rot.
Thin whine, buzz, hum, restless—
nervous energy that confuses
access with belonging mistakes
nearness for importance embodies
hunger without wisdom living
on lilfe’s leftover crumbs.

Simurgh scans the heavens silently,
sound swallowed by altitude and
casts a mountain-sized shadow.
Wingspan vast, immense presence—
motion that reshapes air with stillness.
Benevolent creature glides effortlessly,
witnesses creation and destruction,
participates in the process of transformation
burns away death to feast on forever.

Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.