If I Should Learn

If I should learn, in some quite casual way,
That you were gone, not to return again --
Read from the back-page of a paper, say,
Held by a neighbor in a subway train,
How at the corner of this avenue
And such a street (so are the papers filled)
A hurrying man, who happened to be you,
At noon today had happened to be killed --
I should not cry aloud -- I could not cry
Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place --
I should but watch the station lights rush by
With a more careful interest on my face;
Or raise my eyes and read with greater care
Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.
--Edna St. Vincent Millay

Hope is a thing with feathers

Hope is a thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

--Emily Dickinson

(The chicken's name is Louise, and she is from the book Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo.)

'Til He Appear'd and The Soul Felt Its Worth

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

     Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!
     O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
     O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

On the 100th Birthday of Blessed Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

-- Written on the wall of Blessed Mother Teresa's home in Calcutta.  (It is also written on a t-shirt I got from some yoga studio a few years ago.  However, my t-shirt does not include the bit about God.  Heaven forbid a yogi should get offended by the suggestion of God.  Er, excuse me, I mean Spirit...)

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

-- William Carlos Williams, 1934

Lunch at the Elephant & Castle

I hadn’t thought of you, hadn’t thought of you walking into The George, but you did.

And through the smoke and people standing up,
you saw me lying on the carpet with

Andy, was that his name? I’m not too sure.
I do remember how much I’d fancied

him. He was blond, while you’re dark, blue-eyed while
yours are grey. I don’t think you’ve forgotten

have you? I don’t have much of an excuse,
except it was lunchtime and I hadn’t

eaten, but I had drunk nine bottles of
Becks, so lying at the back of The George

with (let’s call him) Andy seemed OK.
Perhaps it was, until I was aware

of your leopard print shoes next to my head,
and the way you said nothing. I’m grateful

for that. You put out your hand, helped me to
my feet and walked me back to Lambeth North.

It was then that I knew I wanted you.

--Karina Naomi

best, For an Anniversary

when I don't think I'm good enough,
                           you make me feel better.

when I think I've let you down,
                          i want to be better.

when I've got you figured out,
                         i learn to know you better.

when you ask me if I love,
                        you should know better.

--Michael Bindas, c. 1999

The Donkey (For Palm Sunday)

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born;

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil's walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

-- G.K. Chesterton

One Perfect Rose

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.

All tenderly his messenger he chose;

Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet —

One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;

"My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose."

Love long has taken for his amulet

One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet

One perfect limousine, do you suppose?

Ah no, it's always just my luck to get

One perfect rose.

— Dorothy Parker, 1926

The Night is Darkening Round Me

The night is darkening round me

The wild winds coldly blow;

But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighted with snow,
And the storm is fast descending
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds upon clouds above me,
Wastes upon wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

— Emily Brontë

To Believe

I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe.

—Flannery O'Connor

The Young Housewife

At ten A.M. the young housewife

moves about in negligee behind

the wooden walls of her husband's house.

I pass solitary in my car.

Then again she comes to the curb

to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands

shy, uncorseted, tucking in

stray ends of hair, and I compare her

to a fallen leaf.

The noiseless wheels of my car

rush with a crackling sound over

dried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.

— William Carlos Williams, 1917