POEMS

The willow is like an etching, fine-lined against the sky.
The ginko is like a crude sketch, hardly worthy to be signed.

The willow's music is like a soprano, delicate and thin.
The ginko's tune is like a chorus, with everyone joining in.

The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;
The ginko is leathery as an old bull.
The willow's branches are like silken thread;
The ginko's like stubby rough wool.

The willow is like a nymph with streaming hair;
Wherever it grows, there is green and gold and fair.
The willow dips to the water, protected and precious,
Like the King's favourite daughter.

The ginko forces it's way through grey concrete, like a city child, it grows up in the street.
Thrust against the metal sky, somehow it survives and even thrives.

My eyes feast upon the willow,
But my heart goes to the ginko.

by Eve Merriam

To be a Witch

To be a witch is to love and be loved.
To be a witch is to know everything, and nothing at all.
To be a witch is to move amongst the stars while staying on earth.
To be a witch is to change the world around you, and yourself.
To be a witch is to share and give, while receiving all the while.
To be a witch is to dance and sing, and hold hands with the universe.
To be a witch is to honor the Gods, and yourself.
To be a witch is to BE magick, not just perform it.
To be a witch is to be honorable, or nothing at all.
To be a witch is to accept others who are not.
To be a witch is to know what you feel is right and good.
To be a witch is to harm none.
To be a witch is to know the ways of old.
To be a witch is to see beyond the barriers.
To be a witch is to follow th e moon.
To be a witch is to be one with the Gods.
To be a witch is to study and learn.
To be a witch is to be the teacher and the student.
To be a witch is to acknowledge the truth.
To be a witch is to live with the earth, not just on it.
To be a witch is to be truely free.

author unknown

POEM

I am the world that hides
The universal secret of all time.
Destruction of the empty spaces
Is my one and only crime.
I've lived a thousand times
I found out what it means to be believed,
The thoughts and images,
The unborn child that never was conceived.

When little worlds collide
I'm trapped inside my embryonic cell,
And flashing memories
Are cast into the never ending well.
The name that scorns the face
The child that never sees the cause of man,
The deathly darkness that
Belies the fate of those who never ran.

Well it's hard for you
To know the reason why
And I know you'll understand
More when it is time to die,
Don't believe the life you have
Will be the only one,
You'll have to let your body sleep
To let your soul live on.

I want you to listen,
I'm tryin' to get through!

Love has given life to you
And now it's your concern.
Unseen eyes of inner life
Will make your soul return.
Still I look, but not to touch,
The seeds of life are sown,
Curtain of the future falls,
The secret stays unknown.

Just remember - love is life
And hate is living death.
Treat your life for what it's worth
And live for every breath.
Looking back I've lived and learned
But now I'm wondering.
Here I wait and only guess
What this next life will bring.

A National Acrobat
John Osbourne
1973

Crosswinds

Isn't it true - we must carry our lives
To a certain height, to a certain depth?

Isn't this so?
We must learn in green winds of change.
In black winds of loss how to grow Grace
How to grow fully Human
That our Legacy be Light
And Blessed Breath!

Theodore Hall

I DID NOT DIE

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars, that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

~Joyce Fossen~
from Earth Prayers
ISBN 0-06-250746-X

WARNING

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

JENNY JOSEPH
from When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
ISDN 0-918949-16-5

Put on this page for my friend, the Pantheress,
who knows the true meaning of the color purple.

DESIDERATA

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 and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and 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 this not 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 and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.Br> Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it 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 and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful, strive to be happy.

These words were found
in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore,
dated 1692.

Music on this page from the CD Celtic Christmas, "When The Snow Melts" by Windham Hill
Barnes and Noble

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