The Eyes of Silence…

 

This poem is dedicated to Navid from Iran who speaks so eloquently about global poverty, child slavery, the rights of women and the meaning of personal freedom. He is a young man who speaks passionately about international human rights, and is an advocate for those without a voice. We definitely need more young people like him in the world. The collective voice of youth has much power to effect change. Never lose your desire to advocate for the rights of others or lose your faith in the quest for truth and justice Navid.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

She walks,

with imperfection,

As footsteps may,

in the drifts of

sands on

the edge of

tides.

 

Her imperfection

Screams against

the innocence of her youth.

Like grains of sand

upon marble,

Somehow,

not belonging.  

 

The youth of her eyes

have been sacrificed,

for the needs of  

others.

And what of her soul?

Its beauty remains

muted,

By the veils of culture,

And the insistence

of her father,

And hidden,

in the unspoken words,

of her mother.

 

Through veils of silence,

remain unspoken words.

Yet they are screaming,

upon the winds

of change.

 

Drifting,

Shifting,

Restless,

as the sands,

or the tides.

Carried forth

upon the winds,

these words

whispered,

“do not be blind,

to the eyes of

Justice”. 

 

For I am

your sister, your mother,

I am yours,

and you are mine,

I am,

ours. 

 

For one day,

you too may walk

upon the edge of tides,

With imperfection,

Without footsteps,

As though you had

never existed.

 

 

 

 

 

Freedom

Kahlil Gibran was a poet, philosopher, and artist. Kahlil Gibran was born in Lebanon, a land that has produced many prophets and is widely considered to be on the greatest Arabic prophets of our age. His writings have been translated into many languages and his fame and influence have spread far beyond the middle East. Kahlil’s most famous work is his short book “The Prophet” (1923). The prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays which deal with issues such as birth and death. In 1895 Gibran and his family moved to the US where Kahlil lived until his death in 1931    ” Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love “ www.poetseers.org       Freedom by Khalil Gibran And an orator said, “Speak to us of Freedom.” And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Circle of Life…

 

 

 

I have been thinking about what is important in life. And about what makes people happy. For most human beings, the concept of happiness follows a strangely generic and common theme. These include the pursuit and acquisition of money, owning that car with a particular name, and living in a neighbourhood in which the postal code is never verbalized, but speaks for itself.  But does this create happiness?

I had a dream about a perfect circle. The image of it was very vivid and clear. And then I thought about the meaning of a circle. Its perfection comes from its form; a circle has no beginning or end. It represents oneness, completion, perfection and infinity. It may also represent the “circle of life” or the totality of the Collective Unconsciousness.  A circle also denotes spiritual awareness and the wholeness of body, mind and spirit.

 Carl Jung called all circular images a “mandala”. The Tibetan word for “mandala,” dkyil-‘khor , literally means “that which encircles a center.” A “center,” here is a meaning, and “that which encircles it” – a mandala – is a round symbol that represents the meaning. The goal of the mandala is to serve as a tool on our spiritual journey as it symbolizes cosmic and psychic order.

And so a circle represents perfection. However, human beings are not “perfect”. In fact, humanity is quite flawed. And part of this flaw is the pursuit of things which we mistakenly equate with happiness. In the end such fervent prayers to a false altar becomes an empty vessel; a vessel  which can never be filled and is devoid of that which nurtures. 

What does nurture are the relationships that we form with friends and family. Because when all is said and done, it is these relationships that form ”the circle of life”. Because when you are in need, it will be these hands that circle you with love and kindness. This concept is based in antiquity and is mentioned in the bible, “and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. And so in the circle of life, it is love which is most important. And it is this tenet that often gets forgotten in the pursuit of the material; an endless but ultimately fruitless pursuit, for such things cannot create happiness. 

And so when I think about a circle I envision the hands of many joined together.  For the individual, it is the hands of your family joined together, with you in the center.  For greater humanity, it is the hands of the world joined together with the universe as the center. Can you imagine what could be accomplished if the entire world could join hands together with kindness and love?  Now that would be a pursuit worthy of effort.    

  

   

” Don’t look at your form, however ugly or beautiful.
Look at love and at the aim of your quest. …
O you whose lips are parched, keep looking for water.
Those parched lips are proof that eventually you will reach the source.”

Rumi