The poem illustrates a melding of two beliefs: there is no place where God is not and Abraham’s idea that you can never get it wrong.  Hence, life or love never fails — you never fail.  God is with you always no matter how exhilarated you feel or how low and unimpassioned you feel.  God is with you in both the simplicity and the complexity of your lives.  God, Spirit, the ineffable, the mysteriously indefinable, is that which courses through you continuously without end.

image locale

I have fallen between the cracks
and landed in the spaces
where love never fails

Beloved, you are my captor
and I am bound by your love

I hear you whisper softly
don’t speak. words fail here, just listen

churning on the seas of your desire
I am the rising and the falling

the beginning and the ending
the fullness and the emptiness

journey to the furthest point of your yearning
I am the anguish and the exaltation

I am the grain of sand awakening the pearl

I am the morsel you are tasting
be it bitter or sweet

quench your deepest thirst here
where you think I’m not

I Am.

©heartsdeesire

I begged my husband, please let me read you this poem, it means so much to me (appended below).  He says he doesn’t like poetry unless it’s one of my poems.  Sweet.  He relents, I begin to read him this poem and am not half way through it before I’m crying.  It’s one of those poems where I wondered — did the author go inside my heart and read what was written there?

How did he know I’ve been afraid?  How did he know I thought I’d dump every idea of exploring consciousness and life?  I tried to convince myself, I’m older now, I don’t need to make the grand experiments anymore.  Maybe I don’t even care anymore.  Maybe I’ll never care again.  Maybe this small, safe place is where I belong.

I thought, if I don’t make big, bold footprints in the world, I won’t be noticed.  Big, scary things won’t happen to me then.  You see, if I’m not noticed, I can’t be hurt.  I’ll just go over here and carve out this small, quiet space and I’ll be protected.

I didn’t decide all at once that I can’t live happily like that.  I didn’t exactly turn a corner all at once either.  I tiptoed up to it, peeked around the corner and retreated.  Then I’d do it again and again and again.  Until one day I could say, I invite my true sense of adventure and exploration back in.  I invite Life back in again.

I turned the corner because I am a devotee of expansion more than I am a devotee of fear.  This is the path of my heart and soul.  I choose to follow it now.  Again.

* * *

For A New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~John O’Donohue~
To Bless the Space Between Us
A Book of Blessings

“This day will not come again.” ~ Thomas Merton

First blush of morning erupts
Songbirds usher in fresh beginnings

* * *

This day shall not come again

* * *

Summer afternoon arrives on the tuft of a breeze
Expectant sunflowers bow their ample heads

* * *

This day shall not come again

* * *

Evening huddles in city streets and forests
Day surrenders to the gentle hush of another night

* * *

This, too, shall not come again

©heartsdeesire

I was in nursing school.  My schedule was hectic and beyond busy.  Stan called one day.  I wasn’t at home.  I often wondered if things would have been different had I been home to take that call.  A few days later, he ran a tube from his car’s muffler into his bedroom and died.

Before his death, he had trouble sleeping.  I loaned him a Judy Collins album to help him sleep.  On it, Leonard Cohen’s song: Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye.  He still had the album when he died.  What I wanted to say to him then and still do, is exactly that — hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

Although I fault you not for what you felt you had to do and I imagine your hair upon the pillow in an eternal “sleepy golden storm” … forever there, forever loved, forever remembered.  “You know my love goes with you, as your love stays with me, it’s just the way it changes like the shoreline and the sea.”

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but now it’s come to distances and both of us must try,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time,
walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

~Leonard Cohen~

“Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann, was published in 1927, and became very popular in the 1960′s and 1970′s. It was out in the stores on posters in much abundance!  There were several variations of it, and it was even disputed to have been “found in Old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore, dated 1692″.

Actually, Max Ehrmann, an Indiana poet, wrote “Desiderata” and several other books, as well. When his poem became so popular again, and it was quoted as ‘anonymous’, his wife who was then a widow, proved that it was indeed written by her husband and copyrighted in 1927 and registered with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

“Go placidly amid the noise and 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 & clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull & the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud & 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
& 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 not this 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 & 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 & loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not is 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 & aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy”.

“Desiderata — A Poem for a Way of Life” by Max Ehrmann, published
by Crown Publishers, NY.

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.

I’ll be out of town three times this month which is good because my inclination has been to curl up at home and stick with what is known and what is contained and unchangeable.  Instead, I’ll stretch myself again into the nether reaches of this great country we live in.  Ok, it’s only Pennsylvania, Portland and the Cascades but it is departing from the familiar comforts of home.

For now, I leave you with a poem from Mary Oliver.  One of the great poets whose words leave an indelible ink stain on my heart.

Prayer

May I never not be frisky,
May I never not be risque.

May my ashes, when you have them, friend,
and give them to the ocean,

leap in the froth of the waves,
still loving movement,

still ready, beyond all else,
to dance for the world.

~Mary Oliver~
Evidence: Poems by Mary Oliver

As you follow the path of life
every now and then, flirt wildly with it

Begin each day with only
an eager yes on your lips

Leap into the wide open arms of
all things immeasurable

Then, flow like water
spill over the edges of your life

©heartsdeesire

Image by Rassouli

Come close to me,
I will whisper in your ear

Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes
around in another form.

For there is so much More to this life
Than you now understand

Observe the wonders as they occur around you
Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry
moving through, and be silent

For the Truth has been Divinely Conceived
Deeply within each of us

Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way

This Union you want with the earth and sky
This Union we all need with love

Stay here quivering like a drop of mercury

I thought I would let you read that poem through before I told you that
until now this poem never existed and yet it was written by two poets
a century apart.  They are the words of Rumi and Hafiz, as translated
by Coleman Barks and Daniel Ladinsky respectively.  What I have done
is create a found poem.  Each verse is excerpted from a different poem
starting with Hafiz and followed with Rumi.  This pattern repeats throughout.
This is now my fourth found poem.  The first was combining Mary Oliver and
Wendell Berry, the second was Rumi and Rilke and the third was a compilation
of eight Mary Oliver poems.  Below I cite the poems used in this creation.

Hafiz – Turn Left A Thousand Feet From Here
Rumi – Unmarked Boxes
Hafiz -  I Will Hire You As A Minstrel
Rumi -  Body Intelligence
Hafiz -  Of Course Things Like That Can’t Happen
Rumi -  Elephant in the Dark
Hafiz -  This Union
Rumi -  The Waterwheel

]]> http://simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com/2010/07/05/this-union/feed/ 1 Beth/Bethie melodiesofdivineunity2 http://simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com/2010/07/01/quietness-rumi/ http://simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com/2010/07/01/quietness-rumi/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:11:40 +0000 heartsdeesire http://simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com/?p=1031 ]]> Today I’ve been asking myself this question:

What would wholeness say?

I love asking the question; it seems to prompt a feeling of slipping my arms into the sleeves and cloak of wholeness.   Wholeness spoke quietly and tenderly just a few things to me -

You are a blessed being.
You are perfect just as you are.
You are innocence.

And perhaps if Rumi were by my side right now, he’d peer over my shoulder and whisper in my ear:

inside this new love, die.  Your way begins on the other side.

In my last found poem, combining Rumi and Rilke, Rumi’s Quietness comprised the last verse.  Here it is, in it’s entirety, the words below and the words, set to music and images by Rahmama at youtube.  It is absolutely spectacularly, breathtakingly beautiful!

Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick clouds.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.