The Wine Pond Poem by Mystic Qalandar

Come, cupbearer, around
the wine pond,
and keep me offering
cup after cup
of a drink
that causes neither headache
nor intoxication.

Let me remain
a sober man,
though I drink my fill;
and after every cup
let me call:
"Have you some more? "

Sobriety is a jewel
that I much adore;
and therefore keep me drinking,
but let me never lose
my sobriety
like drunkards who lie and snore.

O cupbearer, around the wine pond,
keep awake like a wave in the sea,
hearing its own music
while dancing
upon its own body of water,
in every tide and trough.

No ups and downs,
no sleep or slumber—
a mermaid
in the water of life.

A drunkard is a dead man,
and all dead men are drunk;
but he who drinks
the wine of life
remains awake.

—MyKoul