Swift Things Are Beautiful
Swift things are beautiful:
swallows and deer,
and lightning that falls
bright-veined and clear,
rivers and meteors,
wind in the wheat,
the strong-withered horse,
the runners’ sure feet.And slow things are beautiful:
the closing of day,
the pause of the wave
that curves downward to spray,
the ember that crumbles,
the opening flower,
and the ox that moves on
in the quiet of power.
Lead
by Mary Oliver
Here is a story
to break your heart.
Are you willing?
This winter
the loons came to our harbor
and died, one by one,
of nothing we could see.
A friend told me
of one on the shore
that lifted its head and opened
the elegant beak and cried out
in the long, sweet savoring of its life
which, if you have heard it,
you know is a sacred thing.,
and for which, if you have not heard it,
you had better hurry to where
they still sing.
And, believe me, tell no one
just where that is.
The next morning
this loon, speckled
and iridescent and with a plan
to fly home
to some hidden lake,
was dead on the shore.
I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again
to the rest of the world.
The Corn Dolly
by Terry Jones
from Fairy Tales and Fantastic Stories
(more…)A FARMER WAS CUTTING HIS CORN, when he thought he could hear someone crying far away.Well, he kept on cutting the corn, and the crying got louder and louder until he had only one more shock of corn to cut, and it seemed as if the crying were coming right from it. So he peered into the last bit of corn and sure enough, there was a little creature made of corn stalks, sitting sobbing its heart out.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ asked the farmer.
The little creature looked up and said:‘You don’t care,’ and went on crying.
The farmer was a kindly man, so he said: ‘Tell me what your trouble is, and perhaps there is something I can do.’
‘You farmers don’t care what happens to us corn dollies,’ said the creature.
Now the farmer had never seen a corn dolly before, so he said:‘What makes you think that?’
The corn dolly looked up and said:‘We live in the standing corn, we keep it safe and do no harm to anyone, and yet every year you farmers come with your sharp scythes and cut down the corn and leave us poor corn dollies homeless.’
The farmer replied:‘We have to cut the corn to make the flour to make the bread we eat. And even if we didn’t cut it, the corn would wither away in the autumn and you corn dollies would still be homeless.’
But the corn dolly burst into tears again and said: ‘Just because we’re small and made of straw, you think you can treat us anyhow, and leave us with nowhere to live in the cold winter.’
The farmer said:‘I’ll find somewhere for you to live.’And he picked up the corn dolly and took it to the barn and said:‘Look!You can live here and be snug and warm all through the winter.’
But the corn dolly said: ‘You live in a fine house made of stone, but just because us corn dollies are small and made of straw, you don’t think we’re good enough to live in a proper house.’
The farmer said: ‘Not at all,’ and he picked up the corn dolly and carried it into his house and sat it on the window-sill in the kitchen.
‘There,’ he said,‘you can live there.’
But the corn dolly scowled and said: ‘Just because we’re small and made of straw, you think we’re not good enough to sit with you and your wife.’
The farmer said: ‘Not at all,’ and he picked up the corn dolly and carried it to the fireside, and he pulled up a chair and sat the corn dolly down between himself and his wife.
But still the corn dolly was not happy.
‘What’s the matter now?’ asked the farmer.
‘Just because we’re small and made of straw,’ said the corn dolly,‘you’ve sat me on a hard chair, while you and your wife sit in soft chairs.’
‘Not at all,’ said the farmer, and he gave the corn dolly a soft chair. But still the corn dolly was not happy.
‘Is there still something the matter?’ asked the farmer.
‘Yes,’ said the corn dolly.‘Just because I’m small and only made of straw, you’ve sat me over here, while you and your wife sit next to the fire and keep nice and warm.’
The farmer said: ‘Not at all.You can sit wherever you like,’ and he picked the corn dolly up and put it next to the fire.
And just then a spark flew out of the fire and landed on the corn dolly.And, because it was only made of straw, it burst into flames, and, because it was only very small, it was all gone before the farmer or his wife could do anything to save it.
We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands
by Rafael Lopez
Children of all ages are invited to a bright and colorful multicultural celebration with We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands!
Witch-Wife
She is neither pink nor pale,
And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.
She has more hair than she needs;
In the sun ’tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of coloured beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.
She loves me all that she can,
And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
And she never will be all mine.
Unto a broken heart
by Emily Dickinson
(more…)Unto a broken heart
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Unto_a_broken_heart
No other one may go
Without the high prerogative
Itself hath suffered too.
The Wind begun to knead the Grass
(more…)The Wind begun to knead the Grass –
As Women do a Dough –
He flung a Hand full at the Plain –
A Hand full at the Sky –
The Leaves unhooked
themselves from Trees –
And started all abroad –
The Dust did scoop itself like Hands –
And throw away the Road –
The Wagons quick – ened on the Street –
The Thunders gossiped low –
The Lightning showed a Yellow Head –
And then a livid Toe –
The Birds put up the Bars to Nests –
The Cattle flung to Barns –
Then came one drop of Giant Rain –
And then, as if the Hands
That held the Dams – had parted hold –
The Waters Wrecked the Sky –
But overlooked my Father’s House –
Just Quartering a Tree –
Thanks
by W. S. Merwin
Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water thanking it
standing by the windows looking out
in our directions
back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
taking our feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
thank you we are saying and waving
dark though it is
Suená
by Alejandro Urias with Elio Villafranca
Vas caminando, y estás muy lejos de tu casita
Ya se oscurece, y como extrañas a tu mamita
Cuando te acuestas te sientes sola y sin consuelo
No se te olvide que estoy aquí
yo no te dejoSueña mi amor
Mi luz es de ti
Sueña mi amor
No tengas miedo
estoy aquíDesde la tierra, hasta la luna, está tu cuna
Mi amor te abriga, y te acurruca, no tengas duda
Cuando amanece, abre los ojos, sigue tu lucha
Eres bendita, tu vida brilla como ningunaSueña mi amor
Mi luz es de ti
Sueña mi amor
No tengas miedo
Estoy aquíSueña mi amor
La tierra es de ti
Sueña mi amor
No tengas miedo
Perteneces aquí
<.en translation>
Dream
You’ve been walking, and you’re so far away from home
It’s getting dark, and oh how you miss your mama
As you lay down, you feel alone and inconsolable
But don’t forget, I am here
And I won’t leave youDream my love
My light is your light
Dream my love
Don’t be afraid
I am by your sideYour crib stretches from the earth to the moon
And my love coddles you and keeps you warm
When the sun rises, open your eyes and continue your fight
You are blessed, and you shine like no other lifeDream my love
My light is your light
Dream my love
Don’t be afraid
I am by your sideDream my love
The earth is your home
Dream my love
And never forget
This is where you belong
TheKittyCats 