ISN'T THAT SOMETHING...
I
like when
the music happens like this:
Something in His eye grabs hold of a
tambourine in
me,
then I turn and lift a violin in someone else,
and they turn, and this turning
continues;
it has reached you now. Isn't that
something?
- Rumi
like when
the music happens like this:
Something in His eye grabs hold of a
tambourine in
me,
then I turn and lift a violin in someone else,
and they turn, and this turning
continues;
it has reached you now. Isn't that
something?
- Rumi
I would my soul were like the bird
That dares the vastness undeterred.
Look, where the bluebird on the bough
Breaks into rapture even now!
He sings, tip-top, the tossing elm
As tho he would a world o’erwhelm.
Indifferent to the void he rides
Upon the wind’s eternal tides.
He tosses gladly on the gale,
For well he knows he can not fail—
Knows if the bough breaks, still his wings
Will bear him upward while he sings!
- Edwin Markham, The Daring One
That dares the vastness undeterred.
Look, where the bluebird on the bough
Breaks into rapture even now!
He sings, tip-top, the tossing elm
As tho he would a world o’erwhelm.
Indifferent to the void he rides
Upon the wind’s eternal tides.
He tosses gladly on the gale,
For well he knows he can not fail—
Knows if the bough breaks, still his wings
Will bear him upward while he sings!
- Edwin Markham, The Daring One
In icy fields.
Is water flowing in the tank?
Will they huddle together, warm bodies pressing?
(Is it the year of the goat or the sheep?
Scholars debating Chinese zodiac,
follower or leader.)
O lead them to a warm corner,
little ones toward bulkier bodies.
Lead them to the brush, which cuts the icy wind.
Another frigid night swooping down —
Aren’t you worried about them? I ask my friend,
who lives by herself on the ranch of goats,
far from here near the town of Ozona.
She shrugs, “Not really,
they know what to do. They’re goats.”
- Naomi Shihab Nye, 300 Goats
Is water flowing in the tank?
Will they huddle together, warm bodies pressing?
(Is it the year of the goat or the sheep?
Scholars debating Chinese zodiac,
follower or leader.)
O lead them to a warm corner,
little ones toward bulkier bodies.
Lead them to the brush, which cuts the icy wind.
Another frigid night swooping down —
Aren’t you worried about them? I ask my friend,
who lives by herself on the ranch of goats,
far from here near the town of Ozona.
She shrugs, “Not really,
they know what to do. They’re goats.”
- Naomi Shihab Nye, 300 Goats
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em the more do we grieve;
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Rudyard Kipling, The Power of the Dog
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em the more do we grieve;
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Rudyard Kipling, The Power of the Dog
A story is like water
that you heat for your bath.
It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you.
-Rumi, Story Water
that you heat for your bath.
It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you.
-Rumi, Story Water
Water, stories, the body,
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what's hidden.
Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know
and then not.
-Rumi, Story Water
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what's hidden.
Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know
and then not.
-Rumi, Story Water
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
W.S. Merwin, To the New Year
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
W.S. Merwin, To the New Year
Original Artwork by CL.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake
Once I loved a tall man
Cold as mountain snow,
Fair as a golden poplar
When spring winds blow,
Who knew no more of joy or pain
Than a callous mountain crow.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
Cold as mountain snow,
Fair as a golden poplar
When spring winds blow,
Who knew no more of joy or pain
Than a callous mountain crow.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
Once I loved a warm man
Whose heart stood in his eyes,
Who told me he loved me truly,
And a thousand pleasant lies,
But proved as light-winged as a bee
That over the earth flies.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
Whose heart stood in his eyes,
Who told me he loved me truly,
And a thousand pleasant lies,
But proved as light-winged as a bee
That over the earth flies.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
Now I am off, I am off, hey!
I'll not be bound again,
Let all the larks rise singing
That once would wake old pain,
Leave the chameleon sea to mirror
The moods of the sun and rain.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
I'll not be bound again,
Let all the larks rise singing
That once would wake old pain,
Leave the chameleon sea to mirror
The moods of the sun and rain.
Come fine or windy.
- Ruth Dallas
The yellow-throated warbler, the highest remotest voice
of this place, sings in the tops of the tallest sycamores,
but one day he came twice to the railing of my porch
where I sat at work above the river. He was too close
to see with binoculars. Only the naked eye could take him in,
a bird more beautiful than every picture of himself,
more beautiful than himself killed and preserved
by the most skilled taxidermist, more beautiful
than any human mind, so small and inexact,
could hope ever to remember. My mind became
beautiful by the sight of him. He had the beauty only
of himself alive in the moment of his life.
He had upon him like a light the whole
beauty of the living world that never dies.
- Wendell Berry
of this place, sings in the tops of the tallest sycamores,
but one day he came twice to the railing of my porch
where I sat at work above the river. He was too close
to see with binoculars. Only the naked eye could take him in,
a bird more beautiful than every picture of himself,
more beautiful than himself killed and preserved
by the most skilled taxidermist, more beautiful
than any human mind, so small and inexact,
could hope ever to remember. My mind became
beautiful by the sight of him. He had the beauty only
of himself alive in the moment of his life.
He had upon him like a light the whole
beauty of the living world that never dies.
- Wendell Berry
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
- Wendell Berry
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
- Wendell Berry
For every year is costly,
As you know well. Nothing
Is given that is not
Taken, and nothing taken
That was not first a gift.
- Wendell Berry
As you know well. Nothing
Is given that is not
Taken, and nothing taken
That was not first a gift.
- Wendell Berry
for patience joins time to eternity
- Wendell Berry
- Wendell Berry
"Junkyard of Dreams"
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.
Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
-E. B. White
Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
-E. B. White
I long so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things require effort and disappointment and perseverance.
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Vincent Van Gogh
Grown-ups are quirky creatures, full of quirks and secrets.
- Roald Dahl, Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
- Roald Dahl, Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
That night is many years ago
And gone, and still I see you clear,
Clear as the lamplight in your hair.
The old time comes around me now,
And I remember how you glanced
At me, and how we stepped and swayed.
I can't forget the way we danced...
- Wendell Berry
And gone, and still I see you clear,
Clear as the lamplight in your hair.
The old time comes around me now,
And I remember how you glanced
At me, and how we stepped and swayed.
I can't forget the way we danced...
- Wendell Berry
Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.
- John Dewey
- John Dewey
The question before me, now that I
am old, is not how to be dead,
which I know from enough practice,
but how to be alive, as these worn
hills still tell, and some paintings
of Paul Cézanne, and this mere
singing wren, who thinks he's alive
forever, this instant, and may be.
- Wendell Berry
am old, is not how to be dead,
which I know from enough practice,
but how to be alive, as these worn
hills still tell, and some paintings
of Paul Cézanne, and this mere
singing wren, who thinks he's alive
forever, this instant, and may be.
- Wendell Berry
You don't translate what a man says; you translate what a man means.
- Ezra Pound
- Ezra Pound
Cathedral
Stone
of the earth
made
of its own weight
light.
- Wendell Berry
Stone
of the earth
made
of its own weight
light.
- Wendell Berry
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- Willie Nelson
- Willie Nelson
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensional life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
- Wendell Berry
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensional life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
- Wendell Berry
The woods and pastures are joyous
in their abundance now
in a season of warmth and much rain.
We walk amidst foliage, amidst
song. The sheep and cattle graze
like souls in bliss (except for flies)
and lie down satisfied. Who now
can believe in winter? In winter
who could have hoped for this?
- Wendell Berry
in their abundance now
in a season of warmth and much rain.
We walk amidst foliage, amidst
song. The sheep and cattle graze
like souls in bliss (except for flies)
and lie down satisfied. Who now
can believe in winter? In winter
who could have hoped for this?
- Wendell Berry
I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess.
- Corrie ten Boom
- Corrie ten Boom
The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool!
- Rudyard Kipling, Three and—an Extra
- Rudyard Kipling, Three and—an Extra
What happens to the living when they die?
Death is not understood by death: nor you, nor I.
- W. H. Auden, No Time
Death is not understood by death: nor you, nor I.
- W. H. Auden, No Time
Any human being forced to work in an office or surrounded by nothing but ivory or buff will hazard his good disposition and sanity...
- Faber Birren
- Faber Birren
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We are the world, and it is too late
to pretend we are children at dusk watching fireflies.
We must frame, then, more firmly the idea of good.
Robert Penn Warren
to pretend we are children at dusk watching fireflies.
We must frame, then, more firmly the idea of good.
Robert Penn Warren
Break your bonds, be free, my child!
How long will silver and gold enslave you?
If you pour the whole sea into a jug,
will it hold more than one day's store?
- Rumi, Song of the Reed
How long will silver and gold enslave you?
If you pour the whole sea into a jug,
will it hold more than one day's store?
- Rumi, Song of the Reed
Here on this lowly ground,
Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good
As if thou’hadst seal’d my pardon with thy blood.
- John Donne, At the round earth's imagined corners (Holy Sonnet 7)
Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good
As if thou’hadst seal’d my pardon with thy blood.
- John Donne, At the round earth's imagined corners (Holy Sonnet 7)
You can play a shoestring if you're sincere.
- John Coltrane
- John Coltrane
People are curious. A few people are. They will be driven to find things out, even trivial things. They will put things together, knowing all along that they may be mistaken. You see them going around with notebooks, scraping the dirt off gravestones, reading microfilm, just in the hope of seeing this trickle in time, making a connection, rescuing one thing from the rubbish.
- Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
- Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
'Have you guessed the riddle yet?' the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
'No, I give it up,' Alice replied: 'what's the answer?'
'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter.
'Nor I,' said the March Hare.
Alice sighed wearily. 'I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, 'than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
'No, I give it up,' Alice replied: 'what's the answer?'
'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter.
'Nor I,' said the March Hare.
Alice sighed wearily. 'I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, 'than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
If once you have slept on an island
You'll never be quite the same;
You may look as you looked the day before
And go by the same old name,
You may bustle about in street and shop
You may sit at home and sew,
But you'll see blue water and wheeling gulls
Wherever your feet may go.
You may chat with the neighbors of this and that
And close to your fire keep,
But you'll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell
And tides beat through your sleep.
Oh! you won't know why and you can't say how
Such a change upon you came,
But once you have slept on an island,
You'll never be quite the same.
- Rachel Lyman Field
You'll never be quite the same;
You may look as you looked the day before
And go by the same old name,
You may bustle about in street and shop
You may sit at home and sew,
But you'll see blue water and wheeling gulls
Wherever your feet may go.
You may chat with the neighbors of this and that
And close to your fire keep,
But you'll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell
And tides beat through your sleep.
Oh! you won't know why and you can't say how
Such a change upon you came,
But once you have slept on an island,
You'll never be quite the same.
- Rachel Lyman Field
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