Today’s Excerpt: Rumi’s “The Breeze at Dawn”

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.

—13th century Persian poet, Rumi, trans. Coleman Barks

Discuss:

• In the poem, what do you think “don’t go back to sleep” is telling you?
• At this moment, can you name something you truly want? What is it?
• When there is something you want and you have an intention to move toward it, what are some of the ways you might “go to sleep” in the pursuit of your goals and dreams?