AND YOU LEARN…..
AFTER A WHILE YOU LEARN
THE SUBTLE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN HOLDING A HAND
AND CHAINING A SOUL.
AND YOU LEARN
THAT LOVE DOESN'T MEAN SECURITY
AND YOU BEGIN TO LEARN
THAT KISSES AREN'T CONTRACTS
AND PRESENTS AREN'T PROMISES
AND YOU BEGIN TO ACCEPT YOUR DEFEATS
WITH YOUR HEAD UP AND YOUR EYES AHEAD
WITH THE GRACE OF A WOMAN OR A MAN
NOT THE GRIEF OF A CHILD.
AND YOU LEARN TO BUILD ALL YOUR ROADS ON TODAY
BECAUSE TOMORROW'S GROUND IS TOO UNCERTAIN FOR PLANS
AND FORTUNES HAVE A WAY OF FALLING DOWN
IN MID-FLIGHT.
AFTER A WHILE YOU LEARN
THAT EVEN SUNSHINE BURNS IF YOU ASK TOO MUCH.
SO YOU PLANT YOUR OWN GARDEN
AND DECORATE YOUR OWN SOUL
INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO BRING YOU FLOWERS.
AND YOU LEARN
THAT YOU REALLY CAN ENDURE
THAT YOU REALLY ARE STRONG
AND YOU REALLY DO HAVE WORTH.
AND YOU LEARN......
AND YOU LEARN......
WITH EVERY FAILURE
YOU LEARN.
anon
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice -
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundation,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do -
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Mary Oliver
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for.
And if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s
longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for
love.
For your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your
Moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own
sorrow.
If you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
Have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further
pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own.
Without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
If you can dance with the wilderness and let ecstasy fill
you
To the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us
to be careful,
Be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being
human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling
is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to
yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
And not betray your soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful
And therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty everyday.
And if you can source your life from God’s presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and
mine.
And still stand on the edge of a lake
And shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes!”
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live
Or how much you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and
despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done
for the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to
be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire
with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you
have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all
else fades away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep in empty
moments.
by Oriah Mountain dreamer (Native American Elder)