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.

~