INSPIRATION
Poetry has the ability to inspire us, uplift us, provide clarity, and create insight.
Poetry can touch the soul, ignite the spirit, and foster deep change. Explore these poems that have inspired me, and hopefully they will offer something to you.
Love After Love
by Derek Walcott
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
The Guest House
by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
She Let Go
by Safire Rose
She let go.
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear.
She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn’t ask anyone for advice.
She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.
She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.
She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…
If the Earth Could Speak Right Now
By Joel Schaefer
I am scared. I have provided so much yet get taken for granted.
Ignored.
Abused.
Tossed aside as useless.
I feel betrayed.
Forgotten.
Scarred.
Burned.
Not respected.
There were those who found harmony, but they are gone.
There are some who respect me, but they are few, and even fewer listen.
It is getting late; time is fleeting.
It will soon be too late.
I will still be here, but I will have changed.
Poisoned by discontent and barren.
Time is running out.
Hope is running out.
Help.
Quotation
by Claude Thomas Bissell
Care more than other think is wise.
Risk more than others think is safe.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.
Tears (a Father’s Love)
by Joel Schaefer
Tears, Tears, Tears, Tears
I try to convince myself they are tears of joy, but my heart is not accepting this truth.
It pounds with the intensity of an abiding loss.
It knows the gleeful delight of connection and ease of communion has been replaced by overseas shores, Instagram updates, texts and virtual communication.
Outwardly I embrace your need to embark on this journey,
your desire to grow,
your strength to face new challenges,
your passion to engage in life,
your curiosity to open new pathways
your youth,
your right to explore,
your need to expand.
I share the excitement of adventure with you.
But on the inside there is a vacuum of emptiness.
The reminders of our joyous connection are constant and formidable.
the artwork you framed,
the unopened wines - that you know I like,
the coffee, that lasts twice as long, but has unjustly lost some flavor,
the single plate I put out for dinner,
the unwatched TV shows,
the empty closet,
the half empty fridge,
the extra space in the bathroom,
the sunsets - now watched in silence,
your friends who don’t come by anymore,
the empty cat bowl that needs no more food,
the sincere question - “how was your day?” - unasked,
and the wonderful opportunity to share knowledge and wisdom - now retained inside.
In nature, the child always leaves the parent. And so it must be.
For now I am resting in quiet sadness and enjoying the sweetness of its kiss - knowing that nothing has changed - everything has changed.
The fledgling falcon must one day spread its wings, leave its nest and find its own way.
And so it is here too.
As you find new places,
smash new obstacles with grit and resolute focus,
meet fresh faces,
and soar to new heights,
know that we share the same wind under our wings.
I am always there to provide some extra lift, but you don’t need it.
Invictus
By William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutches of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.