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"Today"
Fire
Posts: 19,096
Today
by Mary Oliver
---
not saying a word
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple
2
Posts
Desiderata
GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
By Max Ehrmann © 1927
Close enough to deliriumOriginal text
Because the Paracetamol
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'
Absence by Kathleen Jones.
We didn’t notice they had gone
until
leaving the door wide
on a hot night
the light
stole out
across the grass
without
attracting attention
and the glass
in our uncurtained windows
made a blazing trap
empty
of the June bugs
fluorescent missiles
hurling themselves
in from the dark
and furred moth wings
and Daddy Long-legs
and creeping beetles
only
a figment
in an old web or
a dusting of carapace
and lace wing
on the loft sill
and the swallows’ pouch
of mud and feathers
in the porch,
crumbling
and something
that might have been a swift
cutting an arc –
dark against dark –
above our heads –
we did not know
so long
since we have seen them last.
By Adam Zagajewski.