by Billy Collins

Litany

"You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--
   the wine."

- Billy Collins, from Nine Horses

letting go

"When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
When I let go of what I have,
I receive what I need."
-Lao Tzu

I don't know what I have been needing lately.  Maybe a warm beach breeze.  A week alone in the woods.  Some music that brings back my sense of wonder and connection to the divine.  A strong and simple sense that I am loved, and I am good.  I have the feeling that I have lost my sense of who I am.  Deep spiritual doubts.  Doubts about the love of others.  Doubts about my own self worth, that seem to go back forever, and are growing in strength.  I clench tightly down on what has worked my whole life.  Tightly clench everything.  Terrified of losing everything.  Then, my fears, realized - in a way, I have lost everything: any sense of who I am, a system of beliefs that comforted me, the marriage that I thought I had - the two of us, now pieces of a broken thing, trying to excavate the past and build something new again.  What has worked my whole life, has not worked my whole life.  I want to let go.  To pry my white knuckles from the thing.  Somehow, it takes more strength to let go then it does to hold on so firmly.  So now, this is my prayer, a burning smoke-stream from my lungs.  May I let go of what I am, and become what I might be.  May I let go of what I have, and receive what I need.

hafiz

With That Moon Language

"Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them,
    'Love me.'
Of course you do not do this out loud;
    Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this,
This great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one
Who lives with a full moon in each eye
That is always saying
With that sweet moon
    Language
What every other eye in this world
    Is dying to
    Hear."

-Hafiz