“Burn ye away the veils with the fire of My love, and dispel ye the mists of vain imaginings by the power of this Name through which We have subdued the entire creation.” -Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas
Creation
1
Liquefy leaves into
a vision
green circles.
Understand
veils
can be
spirited away, so
insight becomes a question
What does the prayer's music
say?
2
Eyes taste
lime circles
once eaten with
(now passed away) friends.
Fingers slip through
splintered fringes
of
reality
blazing
in the here and now
transforming
flames.
(c) June Perkins
It was so delightful to be part of the You Tube Ridvan is Everywhere Celebrations online. And a great honour to be the epigrammatic beginning to day 7 with a brand new never before shared poem. This poem is now being included in the next issue of Tokens.
“The “Is Everywhere” Collective, which brought us this wonderful online Naw-Ruz celebration, is celebrating the Festival of Ridvan! They are excited to provide family-friendly programming for all 12 days of Ridvan and this video features their program celebrating the 7th day of Ridvan.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Los Angeles (USA) is sponsoring special program for the 1st, 9th and 12th days of Ridvan but every day in between features videos sharing poetry, storytelling, music, art, dancing, cooking, and crafting—all by friends from across the world!
A coil of light/ patterns broken and remade/in the path to certitude -Poem by June
“None have I sought nor any will I seek save Thee; no path have I trodden nor any will I tread but the path of Thy love. In the darksome night of despair, my eye turneth expectant and full of hope to the morn of Thy boundless favor…”
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Baha’i Prayers
“Riḍván is a twelve-day festival in the Bahá’í Faith, commemorating Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration that he was a Manifestation of God.
In the Bahá’í Calendar, it begins at sunset on the 13th of Jalál, which translates to the 20th or 21st of April, depending on the date of the March equinox.”
“We cherish the hope that through the loving-kindness of the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, obscuring dust may be dispelled and the power of perception enhanced, that the people may discover the purpose for which they have been called into being.” Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Ṭarázát (Ornaments)
Dust
obscuring
covering
settling
coating the everyday of the soul in
a thickening mantle of swirling
loss, regret, anxiety, confusion
Questions
Surround
impound
confound
and then
Astound
Divine breeze
released by spiritual words
chanted, sung or said into
Air
becoming light through melody
and memory
beyond dust
Peeling away veils
Visible for a moment
the sense of the soul’s shape
free falling
into
faith, connected, certitude
unfurling
feathered tips of wings
Then air filter light warning
the arrival of
more dust . . .
To find more of the beautiful poetry of Tahirih and read about her life, CLICK HERE.
There are many readings at the above site which has been put together by Hussein Ahdieh & Hillary Chapman who are writing a book about her. Tahirih a 19th Century woman still inspires many today with her life, faith, story and poetry.