Love
by Mirabai (translation)
janine canan
Do not mention the word love,
my naive companion.
The path turns strange,
once you offer your love.
Your body is crushed at the first step.
If you want to offer love,
be prepared to cut off your head
and sit on it.
Circle the lamp like a moth
and shed your body.
Present your head like a deer
who hears the hunter's horn.
Swallow burning coals like a partridge
in love with the moon.
Yield your life like a fish
parted from the ocean.
Surrender like a bee
caught in closing lotus petals.
Mira's Beloved lifted a mountain
with one little finger.
She says, Offer your mind to Those lotus feet.
