14 Esfand 1404
Quatrain 41 of 75
“For "IS" and "IS-NOT" though with Rule and Line,
And, "UP-AND-DOWN" without, I could define,
I yet in all I only cared to know,
Was never deep in anything but—Wine.”
Reflection · Winter 1404
In winter the Is and Is-Not takes on its most serious register: Is there meaning? Is-Not existence just the willy-nilly flowing? Khayyam can define both sides of the question with his rule and line. The answer, as always, is wine. Not wine as avoidance — as arrival. The depth of winter wine is the depth of simplicity: warmth, presence, the taste of summer in the cup, the friend across the table.
Was never deep in anything but — the winter confession is the truest version. Everything else he mastered. Only this he was in. Deeply in. The distinction between mastering and being in is Khayyam's final word on what matters.