Becomes.

Rengetsu, In Whose Dream Is This Butterfly? (detail), n/d

What is the deep listening? Sama is
a greeting from the secret ones inside

the heart, a letter. The branches of

your intelligence grow new leaves in

the wind of this listening. The body

reaches a peace. Rooster sound comes,

reminding you of your love for dawn.

The reed flute and the singer’s lips:

the knack of how spirit breathes into

us becomes as simple and ordinary as

eating and drinking. The dead rise with

the pleasure of listening. If someone

can’t hear a trumpet melody, sprinkle

dirt on his head and declare him dead.

Listen, and feel the beauty of your

separation, the unsayable absence.

There’s a moon inside every human being.

Learn to be companions with it. Give

more of your life to this listening. As

brightness is to time, so you are to

the one who talks to the deep ear in

your chest. I should sell my tongue

and buy a thousand ears when that

one steps near and begins to speak.

Rumi