I Slept, and Dreamed that Life was Beauty

  

I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, sad heart, courageously,
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A noonday light and truth to thee.

 Ellen Sturgis Hooper

Legacies

                                                                                                                                                                                         

Unto my friends I give my thoughts,
Unto my God my soul,
Unto my foe I leave my love–
These are of life the whole.
Nay, there is something–a trifle–left;
Who shall receive this dower?
See, Earth Mother, a handful of dust–
Turn it into a flower.

Ethelwyn Wetherald

                                                              

How He Died

So he died for his faith. That is fine.
More than most of us do.
But stay; can you add to that line
That he lived for it too?

It is easy to die. Men have died
For a wish or a whim --
From bravado, from passion or pride;
Was it harder for him?

But to live; every day to live out
All the truth that he dreamt,
While his friends met his conduct with doubt,
And the world with contempt --

Was it thus that he plodded ahead,
Never turning aside?
Then we'll talk of the life that he led,
Never mind how he died.

Ernest Howard Crosby

Life Owes Me Nothing

Life owes me nothing. Let the years
Bring clouds or azure, joy or tears,
Already a full cup I’ve quaffed;
Already wept and loved and laughed,
And seen, in ever endless ways,
New beauties overwhelm the days.
Life owes me naught. No pain that waits
Can steal the wealth from memories gates;
No aftermath of anguish slow
Can quench the soul-fires early glow.
I breathe, exulting, each new breath,
Embracing Life, ignoring Death.
Life owes me nothing. One clear morn
Is boon enough for being born;
And be it ninety years or ten
No need for me to question when.
While life is mine, I’ll find it good,
And greet each hour with gratitude.
(unknown)

The Gate Of The Year

God Knows

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:What need our little lifeOur human life to know,If God hath comprehension?In all the dizzy strifeOf things both high and low,God hideth His intention.

God knows. His willIs best. The stretch of yearsWhich wind ahead, so dimTo our imperfect vision,Are clear to God. Our fearsAre premature; In Him,All time hath full provision.

Then rest: untilGod moves to lift the veilFrom our impatient eyes,When, as the sweeter featuresOf Life’s stern face we hail,Fair beyond all surmiseGod’s thought around His creaturesOur mind shall fill

                           Minnie Louise Haskins

Give me a few friends
who will love me for what I am,
and keep ever burning
before my vagrant steps
the kindly light of hope...
And though I come not within sight
of the castle of my dreams,
teach me to be thankful for life,
and for time's olden memories
that are good and sweet.
And may the evening's twilight
find me gentle still.

If You're About To Destroy Yourself Over A Lady...

I once had a woman
I changed towns for
ran fifteen blocks
punched a man,
died, rose again
and bled like rain for

she gave birth to my first poems.

Now when I see her
and look into her eyes,
it's like looking
through one window
across the street
through another window
when it's raining shit

you can't see a thing

If you have had
an unhappy love affair,
I just want to tell you
the best is yet to come.

              Gary McCormick