background

The Entangled Bank              David LaMotte

On the Day I Die


On the day I die, when I’m being carried

toward the grave, don’t weep.  Don’t say,


He’s gone! He’s gone.  Death has nothing

to do with going away.  The sun sets and


the moon sets, but they’re not gone.

Death is a coming together.  The tomb


looks like a prison, but it’s really

release into union.  The human seed goes


down in the ground like a bucket into

the well where Joseph is.  It grows and


comes up full of some unimagined beauty.

Your mouth closes here and immediately


opens with a shout of joy there.


                                           Rumi


Coleman Barks reading

“On the Day I Die” on

What Was Said to the Rose   2004

Coleman Barks with Barry & Shelly Phillips

CD available from colemanbarks.com