Second Self

Chris Ellery

October 16, 2021

The summary of the advice of the prophets is this: Find yourself a mirror. Shams-i Tabriz 

An old Greek proverb declares, “A friend

is a second self.” Achilles and Patroclus—

is that what they felt? Odysseus and Eumaeus—

this is no longer a story of master and slave.

A friend gives life for a friend and finds it.

In his friend Shams-i Tabriz, mystic Rumi

saw the center of all. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad.

No more need to search for prophets.

Yahweh, Allah, Brahma, the Tao—the mystery

lies deep in the love you see there.

With my friend, I feel my virtues multiply, 

noble sisters and brothers always eager for right action. 

In the company of Krishna, no wilderness is too dark.

This is the meaning of the myth of the lonely traveler.

Our friends go with us wherever we go.

The face of your friend is a silver parable.

For Jalal al-Dinn it was Shams. Now go to your own

and gaze until that incarnation becomes a revelation

and you can see your own true self—

the lover complete, the holy fool, the living one.

Chris Ellery is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Canticles of the Body and Elder Tree. A member of the Texas Institute of Letters, he has received the X.J. Kennedy Award for Creative Nonfiction, the Dora and Alexander Raynes Prize for Poetry, and the Betsy Colquitt Award.