I do not live happily or comfortably With the cleverness of our times. The talk is all about computers, The news is all about bombs and blood. This morning, in the fresh field, I came upon a hidden nest. It held four warm, speckled eggs. I touched them. Then went away softly, Having felt something […]
A Word on Statistics by Wislawa Szymborska
Out of every hundred people, those who always know better: fifty two. Unsure of every step: almost all the rest. Ready to help, if it doesm’t take long: forty nine. Always good, because they cannot be otherwise: four–well, maybe five. Able to admire without envy: eighteen. Led to error by youth (which passes): sixty, plus […]
With That Moon Language by Hafiz
Admit something. Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.” Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise Someone would call the cops. Still though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect. Why not become the one who lives With a full moon in each eye that is always […]
Witness by Denise Levertov
Sometimes the mountain is hidden from me in veils of cloud, sometimes I am hidden from the mountain in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue, when I forget or refuse to go down to the shore or a few yards up the road, on a clear day, to reconfirm that witnessing presence.
Woodstock by Joni Mitchell
I came upon a child of god He was walking along the road And I asked him, where are you going And this he told me I’m going on down to yasgurs farm I’m going to join in a rock n roll band I’m going to camp out on the land I’m going to try […]
Work by Charles Lamb
Who first invented work, and bound the free And holyday-rejoicing spirit down To the ever-haunting importunity Of business in the green fields, and the town– To plough, loom, anvil, spade–and oh! most sad To that dry drudgery at the desk’s dead wood? Who but the Being unblest, alien from good, Sabbathless Satan! he who his […]
You need not leave your room by Franz Kafka
You need not leave your room. Remain seated at your table and listen. You need not even listen; simply wait; just be quiet, still, solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
You Were Made For This by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To […]
An excerpt from Windy City by Carl Sandburg
Put the city up; tear the city down; put it up again; let us find a city. Let us remember the little violet-eyed man who gave all, praying, “Dig and dream, dream and hammer, till your city comes.” Every day the people sleep and the city dies; every day the people shake loose, awake and […]
Whom can I ask what I came to make happen in this world? by Pablo Neruda
Whom can I ask what I came to make happen in this world? Why do I move without wanting to, why am I not able to sit still? Why do I go rolling without wheels, flying without wings or feathers, and why did I decide to migrate if my bones live in Chile?