When We Pray Alone

We are brought thick desserts, and we rarely refuse them.
We worship devoutly when we're with others.
Hours we sit,
                     though we get up quickly,
after a few minutes, when we pray alone.
We hurry down the gullet of our wantings.

But these qualities can change,
as minerals in the ground rise inside trees
and become tree, as a plant faces an animal
and enters the animal, so a human
can put down the heavy
body-baggage and
be light.

Rumi, tr. by Coleman Barks