I Would Love to Kiss You Summary

The poet describes the desired kiss as the soul coming up into the lips. The soul is described as a tree, and the author says it imbues everything except his rough personality. The poet describes a friend as all things: intelligence, the soul, bread and water, a cave, health, a spring, a cloud. He finally stops his list, to keep a bird from flying away.

Barks's commentary wonders about the friend and the "you" to whom Rumi writes. Instead of a person, Barks suggests the "you" is an impulse to spirituality. According to Sufis, love resolves separation and brings one closer to God. Anyone or thing that is loved reflects the lover's spirituality.

The next poem describes beauty in any meeting or gathering, the presence of love, of "the Friend." The poet asks...