“The Facts of Life” by Pádraig Ó Tuama + YouTube Reading
That you were bornand you will die.
That you will sometimes love enoughand sometimes not.
That you will lieif only to yourself.
That you will get tired.
SOURCE: https://verse.press/poem/the-facts-of-life-3458767880319667618
“Horses” by Lieh Tzu
Duke Mu of Ch’in said to Po-lo:
‘You are getting on in years. Is there anyone in your family whom I can send to find me horses?’
‘A good horse can be identified by its shape and look, its bone and muscle. But the great horses of the world might be extinct, vanished, perished, lost; such horses raise no dust and leave no tracks…
“Where the Light Begins - A Blessing for Christmas” by Jan Richardson
Perhaps it does not begin.
Perhaps it is always.
Perhaps it takes
a lifetime
to open our eyes,
to learn to see
what has forever
shimmered in front of us—
“The Old Violin - The Touch of the Masters Hand” by - Myra Brooks Welch
'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"
Lakota Prayers - ‘Great Mystery Prayer’ and ‘Great Spirit Prayer’
“Wakan Tanka” — Great Mystery
Teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing…
“Driving Toward the Lac Qui Parle River” by Robert Bly
I
I am driving; it is dusk; Minnesota.
The stubble field catches the last growth of sun.
The soybeans are breathing on all sides.
Old men are sitting before their houses on car seats
In the small towns. I am happy,
The moon rising above the turkey sheds.
Lover (III) by George Herbert (inspirational to Simone Weil)
Love (III)
Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked any thing.
“No More Second Hand God” by Buckminster Fuller
Here is God's purpose-
for God, to me, it seems,
is a verb
not a noun,
proper or improper;
is the articulation…
“A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that's what God wants. Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not be fashioned so miraculously well.
“When Was I Less By Dying?” by Rumi
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and became animal,
I died as animal and I was human.
Why should I fear?
When was I less by dying?