Layla

Come to the black prayer rug,

Draw the Prophet’s black shawl

Around you,

Let the female superior

Draw you out of yourself,

To ecstasy,

To love.

Address the kiblah,

The mihrab!

Infinite powers

The veil protects.

Come

To the Ka’aba,

The black mirror,

The breast like a crescent moon

Dripping milk.

Work through the body,

With the body,

When you are hungry

Eat.

See the signs,

The world for contemplation,

Be the priest

Of every leaf,

Every stone-

This body now,

Forever!

Return to the mountain,

Where you began,

Square on the earth,

Reaching up with your hands-

Everything that lives

Is in your spine.

This air

Is ganglions of lightning,

I am tremors,

Hot and cold,

Electrical storms,

Whirlpools in the head-

Slipping,

Toppling,

Tumbling

Into terror,

Into bliss,

With the visions

On my fingertips

And the Milky Way

In my breath.