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Prompts for 7-15-17


Writing from the Heart, an Amherst Writers and Artists Group,              Facilitated by William Caldwell

12 - 2017

SPEAK GENTLY,
            David Bates

Speak gently, – it is better far
            To rule by love than fear;
Speak gently, – let not harsh words mar
            The good we might do here.

Speak gently, – love does whisper low,
The vows that true hearts bind;
And gentle friendship’s accents flow, –
            Affection’s voice is kind.

Speak gently, - to the little child,
Its love be sure to fain;
Teach it in accents soft and mild –
It may not long remain.

Speak gently to the young, for they
            Will have enough to bear;
Pass through this life as best they may,
            ‘T is full of anxious care.

Speak gently to the aged Ones –
            Grieve not the care-worn heart;
Their sands of life are nearly run,
            Let such in peace depart.

Speak gently, kindly to the poor,
            Let not harsh tones be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
            Without an unkind word.

Speak gently to the erring, – know,
            They may have toil’d in vain;
Perchance, unkindness made them so;
            O! win them back again.

Speak gently! He who gave his life
            To bend man’s stubborn will,
When elements were in fierce strife
            Said to them, “Peace, be still.”

Speak gently, – ‘tis a little thing
            Dropp’d in the heart’s deep well;
The food, the joy which it may bring,
            Eternity shall tell.


My Brilliant Image

One day the sun admitted,
I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you
The Infinite Incandescence
That has cast my brilliant image!
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The astonishing Light
Of your own Being!
Pilgrims of Emptiness, Hafiz


~
As gravity pulls the feather to the sun, may love’s reverence impel me into the orbit of your sweet and torrid embrace, Beloved.
~


   Now Hafiz is certain:

There are two of us housed
     In this body,

Doing the shopping together in the market and
         Tickling each other
   While fixing the evening's food.

        Now when I awake
All the internal instruments play the same music:

     "God, what love-mischief can "We" do
                    For the world
                        Today?"
The Gift, Hafiz, Trans, David Ladinsky


~
I need not to hold onto the past. I give permission for any and all feelings and convictions of lack of worth and ability to slink into the black hole of nothingness. I need not prove my worth because I am fully alive as my chosen expression of the Divine. Fear is dead. My divine presence is wonderful, simply that: filled with wonder. This is the mischief I choose for today.

I say it again with a gleeful smile in my bones, within my heart and as my soul.
~


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