Avideh Shashaani   TELL ME WHERE TO BE BORN People of the world, Tell me where to be born. If I were born in the land Of "your interest," Would you let me die? People of the world, My name is Holocaust and I'm fifty-some years old. My name is Sarajevo and I'm three years old My name is Bijac and I'm but a month old. And I have no name, I'm yet to be born. People of the world, Tell me where to be born So you will not hurt me one day So you will not maim me one day So you will not kill me one day. People of the world, Tell me where to be born.   FAIRY TALES Fairy tales are true-- Don't you know When they become tales? Children always say, "Tell me another one So I can dream." What are dreams made of? I'm told by children, Fairy tales are real, They seem real in dreams. It's when they grow up They become tales.   TEST OF FAITH Is it icicles Or is it the stillness Of tear drops In my heart? Is it a lush summer's day Or is the glow that Transpires from Your eyes And settles on naked Winter days? Is it the moon Or is it the love In my heart that Illuminates the shadows In the darkness of night? Is the lack of faith That prohibits the Execution of Your command, Is it my clumsiness, Or is it the test of faith? For You say, "Be," and it is. So it must be The test of faith.   Sheila Rotner Apotheosis IV 2001, acrylic, mica and sand on canvas woven into wire mesh, 48 x 48 inches. See more work by Sheila Rotner       FULFILLMENT Why is it that we destroy? Why is it that we love? Why is it that we hate? Do we suffer because We allow others to Enter our world Thinking they Can fill our Empty spots? Is it that we don't Know what fulfillment is Or is it that we refuse To give up our selfhood? Is it that we have totally lost Our link, our bond, Living in the labyrinth Of the stone-age Layers of our minds? If we had all the silver And gold, All human love, All health, All needs met, Would we still Look for something else?   PURIFICATION Do you want to know The way of silence? You must move through pain, You must become pain. Yes, purification is pain-- Yes, you must burn Nothing of you must remain. The way of silence In the dominions of God Is through total submission. There is no other way. Do ashes have a will Of their own?   CANDLE FLAME My soul, Did you know Why the candle flame Looks serene and sad? The only way it can See itself Is to burn And melt. It knows it must Burn and melt, So it can see itself. It watches its Reflection mirrored In the pool Made of its own Slow death.   BLACK PEARLS My soul, I wonder if black pearls Reflect the last stage Of growth that The journey holds for Those whose hearts Have reached the state Of the Black Stone? I recall a time When I was beautiful and young, And saw a string of black pearls For the first time. I said to a wise old woman, There's no other jewel That I would desire But the most beautiful String of black pearls. Now I know why The lines on her face withdrew, Her eyes became dim and remote, And her voice aged suddenly. Should I have tears now, They won't be rubies, sapphires, Or... The Black Stone only knows How to carve black pearls, Or is it when there Are no tears left The Black Stone Is carved into black pearls? My soul, Why do some oysters bed Black pearls, While most others Mother white ones? My soul, I wonder if God Likes strings of Black pearls?   POMEGRANATE Sadness has its own fruit, It's like pomegranates-- Have you looked inside? Don't you see scarlet Teardrops formed around Each white pearl? Why is it scarlet now My friend? Look at the tree of the pomegranate-- It's so modest and frail It barely exists. Its fruit wears the crown of its toil. Does your heart look like the pomegranate My friend?   Avideh Shahaani is the founder and president of Fund for the Future of our Children. She has been a wellness consultant and trainer for over fifteen years and has translated eight published texts from Persian to English. She has published two books, Promised Paradise and Remember Me: A Sufi Prayer. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Maryland and her PhD in Sufi Studies from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, OH. She has been a student of Sufism since 1981. Published in Volume 5, Number 2, Spring 2004.