A Quatrain from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam:

I wish to drink so deep, so deep of wine, that its fragrance
may hang about the soil where I shall sleep,
And that revelers, still dizzy from last night’s wassail,
shall, on visiting my tomb, from its very perfume,
fall dead drunk.

Omar, who lived in 11th century Persia, was an astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and poet. Many believe that he was a Sufi, a Muslim mystic. His poems speak constantly of wine and drunkenness.

I do like poetry, especially poems written within the Sufi and Northern Indian Sant Mat tradition, but also poetry in general, particularly those written in  a more classical style.

To the Sufi, wine is a metaphor for the intoxication of love. At first, it is the love of, and for, a true friend. Then, if that love deepens and broadens, it may unbind the soul from earthly cares, such that the soul may soar. The wine of love brings an intoxication from life itself, and then with the Giver of life. The cup of life becomes a cup of wonder, from which the drunkard drinks continuously.

The pages listed under this category are individual poems I like. Most are written by some clown who goes by the pen name, or nom de plume, to the cognoscenti, of Bhai Din. You will find them individually listed by clicking on the Poetry tab at the top of this page.