Poem of the Day

[Dream Loxley]

Love Emerson's works Letha........

This has always been special to me, I read it most days........

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann - Desiderata

[Halethala]

*Softly* I've always loved that as well, such a beautiful passage.

DOOR (by Glenn Hughes)

In this casual world, where a cardinal flashes
in a branch of the live oak tree, and the mail has just come,
there is a door of shadow a little to the right
of wherever you are looking, made entirely of longing,
which you can never enter, never walk through.
Just in that way, I will always be with you.

[Dream Loxley]

Ahhh Letha

Autumn is here in her glorious splendour and thus it is time to post one of my favourite poems. The description within Keats' words is so apt as I look through my window, and having spent the weekend out and about I can definitely relate to the content of his poem.

To Autumn
John Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

[Halethala]

Mmmmm . . I needed that this morning . . thanks.

[Halethala]

Spare Parts

We barge out of the womb
with two of them: eyes, ears,
arms, hands, legs, feet.
Only one heart. Not a good

plan. God should know we
need at least a dozen.

a baker's dozen of hearts.
They break like Easter eggs

hidden in the grass,
stepped on and smashed.

My own heart is patched,
bandaged, taped, barely

the same shape it once was
when it beat fast for you.

~ Trish Dugger

[Dream Loxley]

A Pinch of Salt

When a dream is born in you
With a sudden clamorous pain,
When you know the dream is true
And lovely, with no flaw nor stain,
O then, be careful, or with sudden clutch
You'll hurt the delicate thing you prize so much.

Dreams are like a bird that mocks,
Flirting the feathers of his tail.
When you seize at the salt-box,
Over the hedge you'll see him sail.
Old birds are neither caught with salt nor chaff:
They watch you from the apple bough and laugh.

Poet, never chase the dream.
Laugh yourself, and turn away.
Mask your hunger; let it seem
Small matter if he come or stay;
But when he nestles in your hand at last,
Close up your fingers tight and hold him fast.

Robert Graves

[Halethala]

I think I've re-read that a dozen times now . . . it really struck deeply.

Just a short bit of verse by a not-so-famous author . .

If someone were to ask what my favorite color is
I would say Green.. no wait, Blue.
When the truth of the matter really is
My favorite doesn't come in replicated hues...
My absolute favorite will always be
A world colored with You.

[Halethala]

(I didn't write down who wrote it, and can't discover it by whatever means, sorry! I'm thinking it may be song lyrics)

The End of Tears?

Youth runs with
the will to beat the odds
and did u too think
it was a game ...
and u found
a way to win?

what now your surety
when it is over.
- did u too think it was real for a while?

did u not know a kiss or two
that might have awoken the heart?

You run the old familiar
hideaways
a quick fix,
turning tricks,
to face the gore again
and forget
the meaning of the tears

your ultimate grasp fails again
as you slip unknowing into the
unfolding masterpiece once more
... once more ...

did u really need to forget in order to live
or was it illusion?

how far then will u go...
how many unheeded promises
... to yourself?

will you come home with us?

will you let us share
your pain,
for we have known it too
and now know its end?

or will you stay
mingled with crowds
a while
longer
leave till later
that quiet part of you
that you too
forgot to do.

[Dream Loxley]

Waves of Comfort

Drop a pebble in the water, just a splash and it is gone;

But there are half a Hundred ripples curling on, and on, and on;

Spreading, spreading, spreading from the centre, flowing on to the sea;

There's not a way of telling where the end is going be.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness, in a minute you forget;

There's gladness still a-swelling and there's joy a-circling yet,

You've rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard

Over miles and miles of water, just by dropping a kind word.
(Unknown)

[Nicole]

Daddy, what if the sun stopped shining?

What would happen then?

If the sun stopped shining, you'd be so surprised

You'd stare at the heavens with wide open eyes,

And the wind would carry your light to the skies

And the sun would start shining again.

But, Daddy, what if the wind stopped blowing?
What would happen then?

If the wind stopped blowing, then the land would be dry,
And your boat wouldn't sail and, son, your kite couldn't fly,
And the grass would see your trouble and she'd tell the wind,
And the wind would start blowing again.

But, Daddy, what if the grass stopped growing?
What would happen then?

Well, if the grass stopped growing you'd probably cry,
And the ground would be watered by the tears from your eyes,
And like your love for me, that grass would grow so high.
Yes, the grass would start growing again.

But, Daddy, what if I stopped loving you?
What would happen then?

If you stopped loving me, then the grass would stop growing,
The sun would stop shining and the wind would stop blowing.
So you see, if you wanna keep this old world a'going,
You'd better start loving me again, again...

[Halethala]

Mmmm . . good ones, Ladies. Here's one from e. e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)"

[taran]

(Don't have a name for this one. real short, but I like it)

In the spring
Are all things
Born, seemingly here to stay
Only to be
In winter's misery
Swiftly born away

[Dream Loxley]

*Smiles as I read* Look forward to many more.........

[Halethala]

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
where the heart moves the stones
there that my heart is longing for
All for the love of you

A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
then it draws me far away
deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
darkness lays her crimson cloak
lamps will call, call me home

And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
now I feel, feel you move
And every breath, breath is full
So it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Even the distance feels so near
All for the love of you

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
there that my heart is longing for
All for the love of you

(Mystic's Dream ~ Loreena McKennitt)

[Dream Loxley]

Lovely Letha......and how super to talk the other day.
One of my favourite Enya songs........playing in my mind of late.

"If I Could Be Where You Are"
Lyrics written by Roma Ryan
---
Where are you this moment?
Only in my dreams.
You're missing, but you're always
A heartbeat from me.
I'm lost now without you,
I don't know where you are.
I keep watching, I keep hoping,
But time keeps us apart

Is there a way I can find you,
Is there a sign I should know,
Is there a road I could follow,
To bring you back home?

Winter lies before me
Now you're so far away
In the darkness of my dreaming
The light of you will stay

If I could be close beside you
If I could be where you are
If I could reach out and touch you
And bring you back home
Is there a way I can find you,
Is there a sign I should know,
Is there a road I could follow,
To bring you back home to me