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Comment by Eva Libre on May 1, 2010 at 7:44pm

Comment by Eva Libre on May 1, 2010 at 7:43pm

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.


From: Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh

~ by Thich Nhat Hanh ~

Comment by Eva Libre on May 1, 2010 at 7:40pm

The Homeless Child

We ask why
how?
in 2009
a homeless child.
Look deep into the eyes of pity
look deep into the need
don't rush by
to busy to care
too important to stop
and ask
why?

Do we care enough
to try and stop this
when we all know
it is wrong.

A homeless child is
hungry,
cold,
wet,
unloved
dirty,
smelly.
Do we care
is it our problem?

pass by quick
then
you will not see,
nor smell,
nor think,
nor care.
Out of sight
out of mind.

But the child remains
vulnerable
abused
till it dies
unwanted.

David Gould © 26th May 2009

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