Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 A poem by Herman Hesse( who has given me much solace in life): "My life has seeped away, I have forgotten everything. Sometimes it seems early in the day, As if I were a child. And sometimes it seems As if I'd lived since time past measuring And I were older than the hills and streams. Children of mine are living here and there, And women who loved me and gave me the air. No one stayed with me very long. As a child I drank milk from birthday mugs, Now I drink wine and beer and grogs, Because of which my stomach has gone wrong. I'd have perished long ago If not for the curiosity That drives me time and time again To hearken to the pleasure and pain That surge inside of me. There like a mountain brook I often hear This life whose reasons I can never know Swirling away, yet rising forever anew, And listen in fascination to its flow. Women also fascinate me. Lots of them like me. They smile languidly But refuse to take me seriously. They rate me As unaccountable, not to be Trusted, in which, of course, they're right. One was named Ruth. She charmed me and tormented Me. She could never understand What stopped me from being happy and contented. Dear Ninon, at the moment you're my moon Shining upon the fearful night That shrouds my heart in gloom. Your wise dark eyes glow with love's light. If she could only stay with me forever! But suddenly I'm alone again, And neither stars, nor moon are bright Enough to pierce the darkness of my room. It makes you laugh. You've never known the ache Of lying for nights on end awake, Listening, with anguish gnawing at your heart. But sometimes, like the moonlight or A woman's kiss, life glows once more Enchanted from the east, a strange new sun Rising above the hills. Its beams, Suffusing the whole world with love, invite Me once again to bathe in its unfathomable light." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Here is a collage of text covering some recent themes (all cut and pasted w/o permission): 1) As heard on Writer's Almanac on NPR: "Grandpa Putting Salt on His Ice Cream" by Jay Leeming from Dynamite on a China Plate: Poems. © The Backwaters Press. Grandpa Putting Salt on His Ice Cream He would hold the salt shaker in his right hand, and tap the end over the dark chocolate. "It enhances the flavor," he would say. He had more ice cream in his life than his ancestors ever did, and more butter, and more milk, and more eggs. And when these things filled his veins and pulled him down, when the barn of his heart caught fire, it was those ancestors that his eyes rolled back to see; strong Norwegian brothers driving their cows out of the fields towards the market and the city, towards railroads and electric lights, towards world wars and cameras, towards his body, his thoughts and his life. ---- 2) Beannacht ("Blessing") On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you. And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets in to you, may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green, and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight. When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you, may there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life. ~ John O'Donohue ~ (Echoes of Memory) ___ 3) "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." -Albert Einstein 4) some Sanskrit because I know how much the list owner enjoys it: OM NAMO VAH PITRIS SAUMYAH (Obeisance to you, the gentle ancestors!), 5) one last Einstein quote: ""The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." Take it easy, Sean valist, Steven Stuckey <shastra wrote: > > > > > A poem by Herman Hesse( who has given me much solace in life): > > > "My life has seeped away, > I have forgotten everything. > Sometimes it seems early in the day, > As if I were a child. And sometimes it seems > As if I'd lived since time past measuring > And I were older than the hills and streams. > > Children of mine are living here and there, > And women who loved me and gave me the air. > No one stayed with me very long. > As a child I drank milk from birthday mugs, > Now I drink wine and beer and grogs, > Because of which my stomach has gone wrong. > I'd have perished long ago > If not for the curiosity > That drives me time and time again > To hearken to the pleasure and pain > That surge inside of me. > There like a mountain brook I often hear > This life whose reasons I can never know > Swirling away, yet rising forever anew, > And listen in fascination to its flow. > > Women also fascinate me. > Lots of them like me. They smile languidly > But refuse to take me seriously. They rate me > As unaccountable, not to be > Trusted, in which, of course, they're right. > > One was named Ruth. She charmed me and tormented Me. > She could never understand > What stopped me from being happy and contented. > Dear Ninon, at the moment you're my moon > Shining upon the fearful night > That shrouds my heart in gloom. > Your wise dark eyes glow with love's light. > If she could only stay with me forever! > But suddenly I'm alone again, > And neither stars, nor moon are bright > Enough to pierce the darkness of my room. > It makes you laugh. You've never known the ache > Of lying for nights on end awake, > Listening, with anguish gnawing at your heart. > But sometimes, like the moonlight or > A woman's kiss, life glows once more > Enchanted from the east, a strange new sun > Rising above the hills. Its beams, > Suffusing the whole world with love, invite > Me once again to bathe in its unfathomable light." > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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