This Hafiz poem was sent to those who were among the first wave to receive the news of Reid’s “probable leukemia” diagnosis…. We were, in a word, shocked. It was hard to know what to think of, which feelings to pay attention to, what sequence to follow and how to comprehend the magnitude of what was unfolding. Our concern for Reid over-road every single moment, and the staggering exhaustion of attempting to holding Hope in a basket of grief was already measurable.

TODAY

I
Do not
Want to step so quickly
Over a beautiful line on God’s palm
As I move through the earth’s
Marketplace
Today.

I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved.

Something has happened
To my understanding of existence
That now makes my heart always full of wonder
And kindness.

I do not
Want to step so quickly
Over this sacred place on God’s body
That is right beneath your
Own foot

As I
Dance with
Precious life
Today.

~ Hafiz ~