21 Esfand 1404
Quatrain 48 of 75
“While the Rose blows along the River Brink,
With old Khayyam the Ruby Vintage drink:
And when the Angel with his darker Draught
Draws up to thee—take that, and do not shrink.”
Reflection · Winter 1404
The rose does not blow along the winter river. The river is cold and bare and the rose is memory. But the instruction stands even without the rose: with old Khayyam, drink what is offered. The darker Draught in winter is most proximate — the sense of it drawing up is strongest in Dey and Bahman. Khayyam says: do not shrink. Not because the darker draught is welcome but because shrinking does not prevent the cup from being offered.
Take that — the courage is in the taking, in the willingness to receive what the universe offers at the end as fully as you received what it offered at the beginning. The rose blew. The ruby vintage was drunk. The company was good. Take what comes next with the same open hand.