The Festival Gate By Maggie Crouch

…the crescent moon over
the festival gate…*
a party, with laughter
joy unbounded as you rise
higher and higher
reaching the sun
no longer constricted by time
and needs
the ever-present formulas
of old thinking, pre-allocated
conditions,
old habits and
tendencies released
cast away
the anchor torn
from its ancient
resting place
and You transparent
new starburst
shaft of light
beyond the shadowed moon ~
traveling free.

*Title and first line adapted from Rumi, tr. Coleman Barks