The painting "The Young Poet Rumi" shows a young Rumi (sans white beard) composing a poem. The painting is a visual narrative of catharsis. Peacock feather in hand, the flow of ink has veered off the paper and knocked over an ink well as the weight of emotion from what he has just written causes him to collapse in creative exhaustion, his heart pumping blood onto the green table. Two young birds fly in through his open window bringing flowers. These feathered muses also bring him inspiration metaphorically through these gifts of flowers.
When I see this painting I can smell the salty air of the sea just outside Rumi's window. The lines of the poem on the paper are from the poem Heroes:
Does any artist paint for the sake of the picture itself,
without the hope of offering some good?
No, but for the sake of the viewers and the young
who will be drawn by it and freed from cares.
