I’m influenced by the rambunctious poetry of Persian poets Rumi and Hafez. Rumi wrote, “When you dance, the whole universe dances!” And Hafez reminds us to toss away a heavy heart and busy mind and remember that we are meant to move.
Shuana, my friend of more than 50 years, hosted the Simply Go*d Book Soirée at Ridgeway Ranch, famous for racehorse Seabiscuit. In her introduction, she described a poem she remembered me reading in 2018 at the Leonard Lake Camp Talent Show. She thought it was called “Swing Dancing with God.”
That caught my attention.
Through more good luck than an efficient system for tracking poem titles or first lines, I was able to find the poem, “Swing Dancing in the Eternity of Now.” I share it here as a tribute to timeless poets like Rumi and Hafez—and to the aging friends who witness our lives.
SWING DANCING IN THE ETERNITY OF NOW
Dear God, the Abundant One,
I run and jump and fling myself into your open arms.
You swing me around through the Universe.
My hair and skirts billow in the wind, and my shoes fall off.
Your grip is firm and the world passes by in a dizzy array of shapes and colors.
Life explodes with the splendor of popcorn and fireworks.
How could it be any other way?
You–God-of-Beyond-All
& me, a fragment of our imagination
Swing dancing as One in the Eternity of NOW.
