I go for a walk after dinner. With the time change in the U.S. the sun sets early. I finished my walk at dusk, walked into my backyard and saw the moon shining above the trees. It made me happy. I share my photo and happiness with you.
Inspirational
Today’s Poem: What Survives by Rainer Maria Rilke
What Survives
Rainer Maria Rilke
Who says that all must vanish?
Who knows, perhaps the flight
of the bird you wound remains,
and perhaps flowers survive
caresses in us, in their ground.
It isn’t the gesture that lasts,
but it dresses you again in gold
armor —from breast to knees—
and the battle was so pure
an Angel wears it after you.
Today’s Poem: An Honest Man’s Fortune (Excerpt) by John Fletcher
An Honest Man’s Fortune (Excerpt)
John Fletcher
Man is his own star; and the soul that can
Render an honest and a perfect man
Commands all light, all influence, all fate;
Nothing to him falls early, or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.
Today’s Poem: but if a living dance upon dead minds by e. e. cummings
but if a living dance upon dead minds
e. e. cummings
but if a living dance upon dead minds
why,it is love; but at the earliest spear
of sun perfectly should disappear
moon’s utmost magic,or stones speak or one
name control more incredible splendor than
our merely universe, love’s also there:
and being here imprisoned, tortured here
love everywhere exploding maims and blinds
(but surely does not forget, perish, sleep
cannot be photographed, measured;disdains
the trivial labelling of punctual brains…
-Who wields a poem huger than the grave?
from only Whom shall time no refuge keep
though all the weird worlds must be opened?
Today’s Poem: Pure Imagination by Roald Dahl
Pure Imagination
Roald Dahl
Come with me and you’ll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you’ll see
Into your imagination
We’ll begin with a spin
Trav’ling in the world of my creation
What we’ll see will defy
Explanation
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there’s nothing to it
There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you’ll be free
If you truly wish to be
Today’s Quote: Follow Your Star
There is most certainly a purpose you are yearning to fulfill. Find it, know it, follow it, and you can change the world. ~ Ralph Marston
Today’s Poem: A Hymn by Donald Marquis
A Hymn
Donald Marquis
CLOTHED on with thunder and with steel
And black against the dawn
The whirling armies clash and reel. . . .
A wind, and they are gone
Like mists withdrawn,
Like mists withdrawn!
Like clouds withdrawn, like driven sands,
Earth’s body vanisheth:
One solid thing unconquered stands,
The ghost that humbles death.
All else is breath,
All else is breath!
Man rose from out the stinging slime,
Half brute, and sought a soul,
And up the starrier ways of time,
Half god, unto his goal,
He still must climb,
He still must climb!
What though worlds stagger, and the suns
Seem shaken in their place,
Trust thou the leaping love that runs
Creative over space:
Take heart of grace,
Take heart of grace!
What though great kingdoms fall on death
Before the stabbing blade,
Their brazen might was only breath,
Their substance but a shade —
Be not dismayed,
Be not dismayed!
Man’s dream which conquered brute and clod
Shall fail not, but endure,
Shall rise, though beaten to the sod,
Shall hold its vantage sure —
As sure as God,
As sure as God!
Today’s Thought: Don’t Stop and Don’t Turn Back
There are lots of ways to get through a day. A guy I was speaking with at the gym said some days he feels like a gerbil on a gerbil wheel. He’s going fast but getting nowhere. We both laughed. Some days it does feel like that. Some days it feels like you’re walking backward. And, there are days where everything falls into place and you’re riding high and fast. Whatever kind of day comes our way, it’s best to keep going along. If things aren’t going well keep going they can change in a flash. If you’re riding a hot streak enjoy every moment. You don’t know when you’ll get another shot. As long as we keep moving along we have a chance. As long as we keep moving along we can take a hit, shake it off, and keep on moving. Don’t stop and don’t turn back.
Today’s Thought: Today’s Adventures Are Waiting for You
Are you ready for today’s adventures? They’re waiting for you. Who knows where they will carry you. Be open to surprises, new people, and new knowledge. Everything that is coming to you today will help prepare you for tomorrow. Free up your inner child and go after this day with gusto. If disappointment hits, shake it off and go on to the next adventure. Who knows how many dragons you’ll slay or secret treasures you find. Perhaps your muse will knock at your door and crank your creativity up a couple of notches. Today is yours. Don’t miss a minute of it.
Today’s Poem: Aspiration by Paul McArthur
Aspiration
Paul McArthur
HOW should I be the master of my ways
When every nerve is vibrant to the sweep
Of dreams that fill the measure of my days—
Too rare to lose and past all power to keep.
How should I know what it were well to do
When every path has its alluring strain,
Each towering crest its world-revealing view
Of realms for him that has the will to reign;
And while I waver, lo! this earthly shard,
Wherein is breathed the swift compelling fire,
Breaks with the ardor it was shaped to guard.
Yet, ever striving, humbly I aspire
Ere all be spent, with reverent hands to light
A guiding star on some hope-kindling height.
