Hyacinths For The Soul

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

Moslih Eddin Saadi, Gulistan (Garden of Roses)

This poem is a favorite of my mom’s, and I love it as much as she does. To me it means humans not only crave beauty, we need it to survive as much as food and water.

I’m reminded of a story I read about women in refugee camps. What did they want almost immediately after being fed? Lipstick. I don’t think that desire is frivolous. They wanted a small bit of glamour in the midst of terror and chaos. Beauty, after all, is a marker of our humanity.

Today I was one of the millions watching the royal wedding. I know there are contradicting opinions on the validity of royalty, but for me, this wedding was a hyacinth.

The setting was breathtaking. William and Katherine were the very essence of romance as they walked down a tree-lined red carpet. When the angelic voices of young boys serenaded them with a centuries old chant, my eyes filled with tears. As a writer, suddenly the images of Arwen and Aragon flashed into my head. I realized where Tolkein must have gotten some of his breathtaking imagery. His iconic settings were likely inspired from the lush English countryside and historic events like the one I observed today.

And books are certainly hyacinths for the soul.

In times where beauty can be rare and where many suffer, hyacinths are more important than ever. Yes, the wedding was expensive; so was our presidential inauguration. There are other expensive and controversial pursuits, such as space missions, the world-wide maintenance of historical sites and museums, and the Olympics. I believe all of these are hyacinths. They are examples of humans at their very best.

But perhaps more importantly, they give us hope that there will be a future for humanity, one filled with more hyacinths that we can possibly imagine.