Poem: The Guest House

THE GUEST HOUSE


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.

- Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273)

Poem: The Wild Geese

THE WILD GEESE


You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.


- Mary Oliver 

What is it that you were given?

What is it that you were given?
I mean from the loss,
After, what was taken.
That very thing you could never live without.
The person or place,
the secret, or circumstance -
now that it is gone,
or has been found out,
and you can no longer call it foundation,
what is it that you were given?

You know and I know, this:
there is a hollowing out.

Something comes and opens you up
right
down
the
middle
and from that moment on
you are no longer immune to this world.

You wake, you wander,
every familiar, now a foreign.
You walk as through water
until you make it back to your bed
and finally, even there -
your sheets, your own pillow's scent different,
as if daily someone repaints your room, displaces something,
disturbs a cherished memento.

You see,
sometimes we are emptied.
We are emptied because
Life wants us to know
so much more Light.

- Em Claire, 2006

Poem: The Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;  

courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;  

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;  

Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. 

Amen.



Reinhold Niebuhr

Poem: Answered Prayer

ANSWERED PRAYER

I asked God for strength,
that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health,
that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I received nothing that I asked for -
but all that I had hoped for;
almost despite myself,
my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men,
most richly blessed.

- Unknown Confederate Soldier

Poem: The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Poem: Leisure

LEISURE

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

By William. Henry Davies


(Wm. Henry Davies (1871-1940) is to be considered as the poet of the tramps. Born at Newport, Wales in the UK, Davies came to America from Great Britain and lived the life of a vagabond. One day, as the result of jumping a train, he lost one of legs. Davies returned to England where he continued to live the life of a tramp and a pedlar. He wrote poetry (presumably he did right along) and, eventually, he determined to print his own book and did so with the little money he earned panhandling. A copy of this first work, A Soul's Destroyer, came into the hands of George Bernard Shaw; which, in turn, led to the popularization of the poet.

Poem: Don't Quit

The Don't Quit presentation is based on a famous poem which was written many years ago. The author of this poem is unknown. Sadly, in recent years a number of people have claimed ownership of the poem and some have even claimed to have written it themselves!

Here is the original poem in it's entirety:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

Dear Anwar ...

LIFE

All in the dark we grope along,
And if we go amiss
We learn at least which path is wrong,
And there is gain in this.

We do not always win the race
By only runing right,
We have to tread the mountain's base
Before we reach its height.

But he who loves himself the last
And knows the use of pain,
Though strewn with errors all his past,
He surely shall attain.

Some souls there are that needs must taste
Of wrong, ere choosing right;
We should not call those years a waste
Which led us to the light.

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Malaysia - still taking baby steps at 50

We are inching closer to a half-century of independence from colonial rule, and if Malaysia is a lady, at 50 years old, we would expect her to have matured gracefully by now.

But of course, just like some people who enjoy mocking womenfolk, Malaysia too suffers from all forms of mockery due to its inability to attain a certain level of social and political "maturity" expected of her.

At 50 years old, she continues to be "protected" and "sheltered" from all forms of threats, both real and perceived, because her children could not be trusted to settle differences amongst themselves in a peaceful and amicable manner.

And because the children could not be trusted, they have learned to distrust each other. Deeply.

50 years is a long time to stay childish. We need to take the painful steps of growing up and growing strong in maturity. We must believe that we can trust each other to safeguard our individual rights to live and co-exist with each other peacefully in the same house.

There can be no real peace and unity if each person is in it only for himself.

********************

The Cold Within

Six humans trapped by happenstance
in black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back.
For of the faces around the fire,
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking 'cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third man sat in tattered clothes;
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.

The logs held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof of human sin -
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

- Anonymous

My healing garden

My garden is a-bloom and I'm feeling fine.

I have mangos,










and guavas,










pomegranates










and chilli-peppers too.










Hey, even my palm tree is a-fruiting
with bright red seeds
that no one eats
except maybe the birds that come a-calling.











My heart is glad, at the riot of colours,
The pink of my hibiscus,










the purple flowers,










oh I don't know what they're called.
There's yellow, there's red, even white I say,
But what I like best
is my bright orange orchid,
igniting a sunny feeling to chase my blues away.














Yes, I love my garden,
my little sanctuary where I gather my thoughts
and make some sense
of the less than perfect world that I live in.

The Uncommon Man

THE UNCOMMON MAN

I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon if I can.

I seek opportunity - not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled,
dulled,
by having the State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk;
to dream and to build;
to fail or succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive to a dole.

I prefer the challenges of life
to the guaranteed existence;
the thrill of fulfillment to the calm state of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for benefiance
nor my dignity for a handout.

I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage
to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
to think and act for myself;
to enjoy the benefits of my creation,
and to face the world boldly and say -
This I have done!

- Anon

********************

This piece is dedicated to all the common men and women who have been misled into believing that they are helplessly bound by the chains and crutches of handouts disguised as rights and privileges necessary to overcome a purported genetic defect to rise to the challenges and demands of the new millenium and new world order.

Hopefully, in the very near future, they will realise that the state's condescending attitude towards them is the ultimate reason for their undoing.

Hopefully too, they will realise that they need to urgently reclaim their right to be treated with dignity and respect that befits their intelligence and heritage, for their sake and that of future generations.

Then, and truly then, can they proudly claim to have achieved their agenda to be a respected race and in control of their destiny in the borderless world.

Reflections

I think about God.
Yet I talk of small matters.
Now isn't it odd
How my idle tongue chatters!
Of quarrelsome neighbors,
Fine weather and rain,
Indifferent labors,
Indifferent pain,
Some trivial style
Fashion shifts with a nod.

And yet all the while
I am thinking of God.

- Gamaliel Bradford

********************

I came across this poem today. The simple words belie the meaningful truth behind our daily existence.

And then, for some unexplained reasons, I also thought of our Prime Minister. Maybe it is because we all know that he is a God-fearing man.

He also seems, for all intents and purposes, a man of good intentions. At least, that is what the mainstream press often makes him out to be.

Still, it cannot be denied his popularity is declining especially among those who have rallied around him during the last general election, buoyed by the lofty promises he made to create a better Malaysia for ALL of us. How many of them snort and snigger at his speeches these days?

For such a good man that he is made out to be, what went wrong?

Could he have confused intentions with actions? Truly, they are not the same nor equal.

If only he realises it.

New beginnings

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 to all my good friends and readers!

Right now, I can hear the distant sound of fireworks being lit up from the comfort of my favourite seat beside my opened windows. I'm glad to be able to share a few words with you all at the very start of this new year. The recent Taiwan quake that messed up the internet connections almost made this impossible judging from the scare it gave to quite a number of bloggers (as reported in the press.)

On a personal level, 2006 was a great year for me and my family. I am humbled and thankful to the Almighty for all the blessings I received and I pray that I will continue to receive HIS blessings for each and every day of the new year.

But as a citizen of Malaysia, I am almost relieved that 2006 is over and done with.

I pray that in 2007, we will not be treated to a repeat of the "same ol' same ol'" that we witness year in and year out from our political leaders.

I was disappointed with the turn of events in Malaysia throughout 2006. I truly hope that we all take heed of the danger signs and not let things get from bad to worse and then to the point of no return.

I almost wanted to give up. I look at the future of this country and our people in despair. We have been blessed with a little piece of heaven on earth and yet, we fail to appreciate GOD's gift. The peace and tranquility that we enjoy now - how long can this last without an effort to preserve goodwill and brotherhood amongst us? Someday, greed and selfishness will destroy us all ... the winner will be left with nothing worth having in his hands.

Will 2007 be different? I hope so. I pray so.

Let us all forget about 2006. Let us pray that in 2007, our faith in our Prime Minister will be renewed. Let us pray too that wisdom and a sense of decency will prevail among our leaders throughout the year.

I'd like to share a poem by Berton Braley here with you. Hope you like it. HAPPY NEW YEAR and NEW BEGINNINGS to everyone!

********************

START WHERE YOU STAND

Start where you stand
and never mind the past,
The past won't help you in beginning new,
If you have left it behind at last
Why, that's enough,
you're done with it,
you're through;
This is another chapter in the book,
This is another race that you have planned,
Don't give the vanished days a backward look,
Start where you stand.

The world won't care about your old defeats
If you can start anew
and win success,
The future is your time,
and time is fleet
And there is much of work and strain and stress;

Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,
Here is a brand new trial right at hand,
The future is for him who does and dares,
Start where you stand.

Old failures will not halt,
old triumphs aid,
To-day's the thing,
tomorrow soon will be;
Get in the fight and face it unafraid,
And leave the past to ancient history;
What has been, has been;
yesterday is dead
And by it you are neither blessed nor banned,
Take courage, man,
be brave and drive ahead,
Start where you stand.

********************

God Bless

Pride before the fall

"We live and work and dream,
Each has his little scheme,
Sometimes we laugh,
Sometimes we cry,
And thus the days go by."

*******************

There once was a beetle which came upon a lump of cowdung.

He worked himself into it and liking what he saw, he invited his friends to join him in building a city in it. After working feverishly for a few days they built a magnificent "city" in the dung and feeling very proud of their achievements they decided to elect the first beetle as their king.

Now to honour their new "king" they organised a grand parade through their "city".

While these impressive proceedings were taking place, an elephant happened to pass by and seeing the lump of cow dung he lifted his foot to avoid stepping on it.

The king beetle saw the elephant and angrily shouted at the huge beast. "Hey you! Don't you have any respect for royalty? Don't you know it is rude to lift your leg over my majestic head? Apologise at once or I'll have you punished."

The elephant looked down and said, "Your most gracious majesty, I humbly crave your pardon."

Thus saying he knelt down on the lump of cow dung and crushed king, city, citizens and pride in one act of obeisance.

(Extract from the book "How to live without Fear & Worry by K. Sri Dhammananda, 1989.)