the invitation......

the invitation......
T

thecoopstah

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.


I hope all who reads this love it like i do...I beleive this can give a great perspective to us as survivors in how we look at the world and able to live within ourselves and the people who care for us and of course how we care for one self....Coopstah...
 
I'm speechless............

And one good poem deserves another.

I liked this immensely,it's by the American comedian Bill Hicks, a very astute and funny guy who sadly died a few years ago.

This poem is in his book "Love All The People", he doesn't admit to being a survivor outright, but who else would write this?

Dave

NEW HAPPINESS
(January 28, 1986)

Im done with excuses
Ive run out of time
Ive wallowed in sorrow
And spent the night cryin
Ive floundered in darkness
in sight of the light
If I am to live, then now is the time.

Oh you knew I knew you
Im crying out to be led through
the valleys of darkness
these pits full of fears.
I only know one thing for sure, I know
I dont belong here.

When I was younger things went untold.
I built up a hard front, I acted quite bold.
My feelings were strangers, interpreted none,
I felt treated more like a daughter and less like a son.

I was only a youngster when I fell in love
My heart touched anothers outside of my home
My passion was fragile, obsession quite real.
I followed my lovers dream till the end.

My chasm of darkness needs to be filled
Recovered feelings from long ago years
No one was there to understand,
Though as a child
I thought like a man

Now I feel both - so young and so old
My body more tired and desperate, not bold
Ive run from the shadows into the night
If I am to live, then now is the time.
 
Might we get kicked off onto the poetry forum?

Dave :D
 
Coopstah, Dave,

I am moved beyond words by these two pieces. I simply don't know what to say. Just know that you have both touched a place in me that I didn't know existed till this moment.

Love to you both,

John
 
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