This isn't a poem, but someone just sent it to me, and I figured I'd stick it here.

......................

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or
the prize in a treasure hunt.
Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own
past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience on
humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and
understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and
people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice
something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them
together into that pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has
dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of
success or failure is of less account.

John Gardner

Thanks Ellis. I really like that.

Ellis....what a woman you are! Thanks for sharing that...perked up my day.
blessings,
blackbird

2 poems from the Prophet

"Joy & Sorrow"

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.



"Friendship"

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

~Kahlil Gibran

Thank you Squeak... I love reading Kahlil Gibran...
:)

These were so beautiful that tears came to my eyes.
Thank you so much for sharing.

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Mary Jean Iron

Wow, Ellis! That one really gets to me. Thanks so much.

Thanks for the words of wisdom ladies! I love reading the Prophet :)

Thank all of you for your words and poems.

Phew! Had to dig for this one!!

I found this in the Globe and Mail the other day and liked it:

"The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else's imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!"
Thomas Merton

I like that one Ellis! I agree too. we have to invent ourselves. If we wait to let someone ELSE do that we will always feel unfulfilled.

That is a very cool quote Ellis! Thanks for sharing.

I was thinking about this thread the other day.

Let's try to keep it active. It took me about 1/2 hour to find the damned thing. :D

Sounds good. Here is one:

maggie and milly and molly and may
E. E. Cummings


maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

Squeak, that is TOO cool! :smoking: Thank you!

I LOVE that Squeak.

E.E. normally makes my head hurt, but is good. This one was an easy read.

Two short poems by Richard Brautigan:

The Necessity of Appearing In Your Own Face

There are days when that is the last place
in the world where you want to be but you
have to be there, like a movie, because it
features you.

-----------------------------------------------------

Finding is losing something else.
I think about, perhaps even mourn,
What I lost to find this.
--------------------------------------------------

Lidian

GOOD ONES!!!

It's weird how I miss some posts... this one didn't show up on my computer as an open envelope. :?:

Lidian, those are GREAT! Thank you for sharing.

I think I'm going to print some of these off and frame them... I need constant reminders of... hey! Did I already say this!?!?

I think I said this before, but I'm going to print some of these off and frame them. :rolleyes:

Bump.

A Dear friend sent me this and I thought I would share:


I wish for you..."

Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,


Sunsets to warm your heart,
Gentle hugs when spirits sag,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Beauty for your eyes to see,


Confidence for when you doubt,
Faith so that you can believe,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
And love to complete your life.

That's lovely, Sflake. Thank you for sharing it with us. :)

I like that Sflake. Thanks. :)

Here is one that I was discussing with someone last night:

Sonnet XVIII
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

~Shakespeare

I hadn't seen this thread before, thanks for bringing it back up to the top! Wow, some really powerful words have been typed here!! I love it!

Squeak, my Mom gave me a mug with that written on it. I smile everytime I look at it. :)

This is just how I feel
 

How many people wanna kick some ***?

I used to be a nerd
Grew up in the suburbs
Nothing there ever went wrong
I made it up in this song

I talk about the hood
I say stuff like it's all good
Tell people I'm down with all the cool kids downtown
When I've never even been there

How many people wanna kick some ***?
I do I do
And how many people sick of holding it back?
I am
Well I am too

So don't lay another finger on her
She's mine and I still want her
If you put your hands upon her
You're a goner goner

And how many people sick of holding it back?
I am I am
And how many people wanna kick some ***?
I would if I could

But I'm really just a sensitive artist
Perpatrating like I am the hardest

So spin your cap around to the back
You think you rhyme but you can't rap
Loosen that strap a little more
Till your axe hits the floor

Flip off your fans
Make em cheer
Try to look sincere
Anger today's fashion
So sing another song about bashing someone's head in

How many people wanna kick some ***?
I do I do
And how many people sick of holding it back?
I am
Well I am too

So don't lay another finger on her
She's mine and I still want her
If you put your hands upon her
You're a goner goner

And how many people sick of holding it back?
I am I am
And how many people wanna kick some ***?
I would if I could

But I'm really just a sensitive artist
Perpatrating like I am the hardest
Acting like I'm not the smartest
I'm really just a sensitive artist

Awwwww Yeahhhh

So don't lay another finger on her
She's mine and I still want her
If you put your hands upon her
You're a goner goner

And how many people sick of holding it back?
I am I am
And how many people wanna kick some ***?

I said how many people wanna kick some ***?
How many people wanna kick some ***?
Whatcha gonna do when your sick of holding it back?
I think I kick some ***
How many people wanna kick some ***?
I would if I could

But I'm really just a sensitive artist
Perpatrating like I am the hardest
Acting like I'm not the smartest
I'm really just a sensitive artist
Honest

I can relate!

In honor of Warren Zevon

Don't Let Us Get Sick

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

The sky was on fire
When I walked to the mill
To take up the slack in the line
I thought of my friends
And the troubles they've had
To keep me from thinking of mine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

The moon has a face
And it smiles on the lake
And causes the ripples in Time
I'm lucky to be here
With someone I like
Who maketh my spirit to shine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

Very fitting, Squeak. :yes:

Thanks Squeak, so very sad.

Thank you Squeak.

That was wonderful Squeak. I got to share this one!

Miss Chris

It is one of my favorite songs from his CD "Life'll Kill Ya".

There is a Solemn Wind To-Night
by Katherine Mansfield

There is a solemn wind to-night
That sings of solemn rain;
The trees that have been quiet so long
Flutter and start again.

The slender trees, the heavy trees,
The fruit trees laden and proud,
Lift up their branches to the wind
That cries to them so loud.

The little bushes and the plants
Bow to the solemn sound,
And every tiniest blade of grass
Shakes on the quiet ground.


This Gloomy Northern Day
by Robert Louis Stevenson

THIS gloomy northern day,
Or this yet gloomier night,
Has moved a something high
In my cold heart; and I,
That do not often pray,
Would pray to-night.

And first on Thee I call
For bread, O God of might!
Enough of bread for all, -
That through the famished town
Cold hunger may lie down
With none to-night.

I pray for hope no less,
Strong-sinewed hope, O Lord,
That to the struggling young
May preach with brazen tongue
Stout Labour, high success,
And bright reward.

And last, O Lord, I pray
For hearts resigned and bold
To trudge the dusty way -
Hearts stored with song and joke
And warmer than a cloak
Against the cold.

If nothing else he had,
He who has this, has all.
This comforts under pain;
This, through the stinging rain,
Keeps ragamuffin glad
Behind the wall.

This makes the sanded inn
A palace for a Prince,
And this, when griefs begin
And cruel fate annoys,
Can bring to mind the joys
Of ages since.


What Man May Learn, What Man May Do
by Robert Louis Stevenson

WHAT man may learn, what man may do,
Of right or wrong of false or true,
While, skipper-like, his course he steers
Through nine and twenty mingled years,
Half misconceived and half forgot,
So much I know and practise not.

Old are the words of wisdom, old
The counsels of the wise and bold:
To close the ears, to check the tongue,
To keep the pining spirit young;
To act the right, to say the true,
And to be kind whate'er you do.

Thus we across the modern stage
Follow the wise of every age;
And, as oaks grow and rivers run
Unchanged in the unchanging sun,
So the eternal march of man
Goes forth on an eternal plan.

Thank you, Sflake. :)
There is a Solemn Wind To-Night ... I was just reading that this morning!!

I used to read this to DD so often, she had it memorized by the time she was four (she's 22 now and still knows it)

Where ever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
"Where are you going today?'' says Pooh:
"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.
Let's go together,'' says Pooh, says he.
"Let's go together,'' says Pooh.

"What's twice eleven?'' I said to Pooh.
"Twice what?'' said Pooh to Me.
"I think it ought to be twenty-two.''
"Just what I think myself,'' said Pooh.
"It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is,'' said Pooh, said he.
"That's what it is,'' said Pooh.

"Let's look for dragons,'' I said to Pooh.
"Yes let's,'' said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
"Yes, those are dragons all right,'' said Pooh.
"As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are,'' said Pooh, said he.
"That's what they are,'' said Pooh.

"Let's frighten the dragons,'' I said to Pooh.
"that's right,'' said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid,'' I said to Pooh.
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!'' -and off they flew.
"I wasn't afraid,'' said Pooh, said he.
"I'm never afraid with you.''

Where ever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?'' I said to Pooh.
"If it wasn't for you,'' and Pooh said: ``True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together,'' says Pooh, says he.
"That's how it is,'' says Pooh.

A.A. Milne

That's so sweet, Karen. :)

Ok, so I had to dig way far back to find this thread, but I found it! :)

I have a minor plug -

http://www.poetryscribbles.com/

click on the poetry link. There is a bunch of stuff on there. Nothing too new, but I am hoping some more gets posted soon.