Even though Hafiz lived over 700 years ago, I find the subject of his poetry exceedingly relevant. Like this one….
The Sane Idea
Let your
Intelligence begin to rule
Whenever you sit with others
Using this sane idea:
Leave all your cocked guns in a field
Far from us,
One of those damn things
Might go
Off.
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Posted in Poetry
July 19, 2015
The clouds didn’t deter us, sun not our only motive
Just the sound of the waves like a craving
Umbrella, blanket, towel, one chair
And a picnic – but it could wait
The boulders drew us over to explore the tidepools
The mystery of the other side luring us over the top
So beautiful
We returned to our picnic—
and a report from the next blanket over.
Seagulls took your chips!
We chased them away!
I eyed the reporters suspiciously,
The bags were unopened!
But later I witnessed another seagull incursion
a chee-toh feeding frenzy.
Poor seagulls
I always felt a kinship with the seagull
the soothing song of waves, warm sand
And as I watched the seagulls I realized
if I was one of these seagull banditos
I would still be me, staring at the crashing ocean
feeling regret over more chips than sushi.
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Posted in Ann, Poetry, Remember the Day
Leisure
by
W. H.Davies
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
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Posted in Meditation, Poetry
Ignition, support trusses fall away
Spectacular roar and blaze
The tremendous force to reach escape velocity.
Faces glued to the screen, bated breath
Lift-off the culmination of years of work
Any unnoticed deficiencies will manifest now
Sometimes with calamitous results
Nothing to do now but monitor
I look at the face of my daughter
I feel like I should read her a story and tuck her into bed
Years of research and labor behind us.
Nothing for me to do now but monitor the screen
Keep the communications open
She left with a blaze and a roar
Reaching for escape velocity
~Ann Fleming
The Peace of Wild Things
by
Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of the wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
This morning as I hear the gentle surf in Saint Maarten, I marvel at the events of my life that made this trip possible. I shared morning coffee with my mother-in-law before she headed out to mass. Church bells chime the call of the faithful, but for me, the surf is enough of a sermon today – the aqua-blue sea my holy water.
I will let the peaceful sounds and beautiful sights soothe away my worries about my children and the crossroads they are approaching. I will breathe deeply and push aside thoughts of the troubles of the world that have made me grateful I canceled my newspaper subscription. Any ruminations of past offenses I will bury with my feet in the sand.
Water is my religion’s symbol of divine renewal. Today, I am baptized in the peace of wild things.
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Posted in Ann, Meditation, Poetry, Uncategorized