Since We’ve Seen Each Other
Since we’ve seen each other, a game goes on.
Secretly, I move and you respond.
You’re winning, you think it’s funny.
But look up from the board now, look how
I’ve brought in furniture to this invisible place,
so we can live here.
RUMI
A note from Rulik
Since we’ve Seen Each Other by Rumi describes the multi-layered nature of relationship.
Behind the surface of prosaic interactions: business exchanges, cooking and washing dishes, and even love making, there is another layer where the invisible “furniture” slowly comes into being and then refined, “So we can live here.”
Rumi helps couples see an impasse in the relationship in a new way, possibly appreciating more the furniture, of which they were largely unaware. “Furniture” can include family rituals and habits, joint memories, future plans and even special objects and places.
The poem helps shift awareness from the details, to the larger context in which the relationship has another meaning.
Occasionally, I read this poem when reviewing with a client the completion of some piece of therapy . It can help a client see the psychological work they have done in a new way, and decide if they want to go further or deeper.
