poetry from the past.

I have mentioned once or twelve times how much I love poetry. I would love to do a poetry unit with my students, but my school would rather me turn them into NYS Regent taking robots, than let them show anything even remotely close to creativity. I think that maybe I belong in a school of the Arts. I'd like to trade my principal in for Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, please.

Rumi was a 13th-century Perisan Muslim poet who's work has been translated into three books, the newest released back in September, and the perfect holiday gift. Rumi's Little Book of Life is a beautiful collection of 196 poems by Rumi, previously unavailable in English. Translated by native Persian speakers, Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin, this collection speaks to the inner journey that each of us experience through our lives. Many do not read like traditional poems, I'm sure the translation is to blame. However, the deeper meanings of Rumi's words are not lost on me.

"Tell me," my lover asked me tenderly,

"how could you live without me?"

I said, "without you I am lost

like a fish out of water."

He smiled, "This is only your own fault."