Inspirational Poetry

Smile ~ A Poem by Edwin Osgood Grover

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Finding Joy in an Imperfect World: A Reflection on “Smile”

Is happiness a choice or a responsibility? Discover how a simple turn of phrase can transform your “blue” days into a sense of belonging.

Smile

Edwin Osgood Grover

Smile!
The world is blue enough
Without your feeling blue.
Smile!
There’s not half joy enough
Unless you’re happy, too.
Smile!
The sun is always shining,
And there’s work to do.
Smile!
This world may not be Heaven,
But then it’s Home to you.

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Deepening the Joy: A Reflection on Grover’s “Smile”

Edwin Osgood Grover’s “Smile” is more than a simple call to cheerfulness; it is an invitation to recognize our personal agency in a weary world. By acknowledging that the world is “blue enough,” Grover validates our struggles while reminding us that our internal state contributes to the collective atmosphere. The poem suggests that happiness is not just a feeling, but a form of service—a “work to do.” In a world that is imperfect and unheavenly, a smile becomes an act of grounding, turning a mere location into a true home.

As you read this poem, ask yourself:

Does smiling during difficult times feel like a mask you wear, or does it feel like a tool you use to change your perspective?

Light for the Journey: Alive With Closed Eyes: A Reflection on Risk, Wonder, and Light

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What if the bravest thing you could do today is leap—without needing to see the landing?

“I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air 
Alive 
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness”
― E.E. Cummings

 Reflection

This brief yet blazing image invites us into courage without calculation. To “take the sun in my mouth” is to accept life fully—heat, brilliance, and risk included. With closed eyes, the leap becomes an act of trust rather than control. Cummings suggests that aliveness is not cautious; it is wholehearted. We don’t wait for darkness to disappear—we move through it, carried by vitality and wonder. The poem reminds us that meaning is found not by standing safely on the edge, but by choosing engagement, even when outcomes are uncertain. To live awake is to leap anyway.

Something to Think About:

Where in your life might you be called to leap—trusting your inner light more than your fear of the dark?

Be True to Thyself ~ A Poem by Horatius Bonar

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Be True to Thyself: Why an Honest Life Speaks Louder Than Words

What if the most convincing truth you could offer the world wasn’t spoken—but lived?

Be True to Thyself

Horatius Bonar

Thou must be true thyself
      If thou the truth wouldst teach;
    Thy soul must overflow if thou
      Another’s soul wouldst reach.
    It needs the overflow of heart
      To give the lips full speech.

    Think truly, and thy thoughts
      Shall the world’s famine feed;
    Speak truly, and each word of thine
      Shall be a fruitful seed;
    Live truly, and thy life shall be
      A great and noble creed.

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Reflection

Horatius Bonar reminds us that truth is not something we merely declare; it is something we embody. Integrity flows outward. When our thoughts are honest, they nourish others. When our words are sincere, they plant seeds of meaning. When our lives align with our values, we become living creeds—silent sermons that speak louder than argument. This poem challenges us to examine the congruence between what we believe, what we say, and how we live. Authenticity is not perfection; it is alignment. The deeper our inner truth runs, the more powerfully it reaches others. In a noisy world, a true life still speaks.

As you read this poem, ask yourself:

Where in my life am I being invited to live more fully aligned with what I believe to be true?

Joy ~ A Poem by Carl Sandburg

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Let Joy Keep You: Carl Sandburg’s Fierce Call to Live Fully

Joy isn’t fragile—Sandburg reminds us it’s fierce, muscular, and meant to be seized with both hands.

Joy

Carl Sandburg

Let a joy keep you. 
Reach out your hands 
And take it when it runs by, 
As the Apache dancer 
Clutches his woman. 
I have seen them 
Live long and laugh loud, 
Sent on singing, singing, 
Smashed to the heart 
Under the ribs 
With a terrible love. 
Joy always, 
Joy everywhere— 
Let joy kill you! 
Keep away from the little deaths.

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Reflection

Carl Sandburg’s “Joy” invites us to see joy not as a gentle visitor, but as a powerful force that grabs hold of us and refuses to let go. Real joy shakes us awake. It cuts through hesitation, fear, and all the “little deaths” of indifference or routine. Sandburg urges us to reach for joy boldly, even recklessly, because it is joy—not comfort—that keeps the heart alive. His poem challenges us to live with passion, to laugh loudly, and to let ourselves be moved by the “terrible love” that gives life its fire.

Question for Readers:

When was the last time you seized joy instead of waiting for it?

Joy ~ A Poem by Sara Teasdale

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When Joy Sets the Heart on Fire

Some emotions arrive quietly—joy is not one of them. It bursts, it lifts, it transforms. Sara Teasdale shows us what it feels like when the soul awakens.

Joy

Sara Teasdale

I am wild, I will sing to the trees, 
I will sing to the stars in the sky, 
I love, I am loved, he is mine, 
Now at last I can die! 

I am sandaled with wind and with flame, 
I have heart-fire and singing to give, 
I can tread on the grass or the stars, 
Now at last I can live!

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Reflection

Teasdale’s Joy captures the kind of love that doesn’t whisper—it erupts. Her speaker is set ablaze from within, wild enough to sing to trees and stars, grounded enough to walk the earth yet light enough to dance among constellations. This is joy not as pleasure, but as transcendence. The lines blur between living and dying because the emotion is so complete it feels like both an ending and a beginning. Teasdale reminds us that when our hearts ignite with love, life expands beyond its borders and everything becomes possible.

When have you felt joy so powerful it changed how you moved through the world?

Keep A-Pluggin’ Away ~ A Poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar

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Keep A-Pluggin’ Away: Perseverance’s Quiet Power


When storms rise and paths grow steep, it’s not talent or luck that carries us through—it’s steady perseverance and the will to keep moving forward.

Keep A-Pluggin’ Away

Paul Laurence Dunbar

I’VE a humble little motto
That is homely, though it’s true, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
It’s a thing when I’ve an object
That I always try to do, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
When you’ve rising storms to quell,
When opposing waters swell,
It will never fail to tell, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
If the hills are high before
And the paths are hard to climb,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
And remember that successes
Come to him who bides his time, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
From the greatest to the least,
None are from the rule released.
Be thou toiler, poet, priest,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Delve away beneath the surface,
There is treasure farther down, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Let the rain come down in torrents,
Let the threat’ning heavens frown,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
When the clouds have rolled away,
There will come a brighter day
All your labor to repay, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
There ‘ll be lots of sneers to swallow.
There’ll be lots of pain to bear, —
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
If you’ve got your eye on heaven,
Some bright day you’ll wake up there,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Perseverance still is king;
Time its sure reward will bring;
Work and wait unwearying,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Keep A-Pluggin’ Away is a timeless reminder that success isn’t found in sudden bursts of luck or brilliance but in the quiet, consistent steps we take forward. Life will always bring storms, steep climbs, and moments when giving up feels easier than holding on. Yet it’s in those moments, when persistence seems hardest, that true character is formed. The poem encourages us to look beyond immediate obstacles, to trust that patience and perseverance will uncover treasures hidden beneath life’s surface. With faith, effort, and endurance, brighter days inevitably follow the clouds. Dunbar’s voice is gentle but firm: don’t stop, don’t surrender—keep a-pluggin’ away.

Questions to Dive Deeper

  1. How has perseverance in your own life led to an unexpected reward or breakthrough?
  2. What practices help you keep moving forward when you feel worn down by obstacles?
  3. Where in your life right now do you most need the reminder to “keep a-pluggin’ away”?

Keep A-Goin’! A Poem by Frank Lebby Stanton

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Keep A-Goin’: The Anthem of Resilience


When life throws thorns, hail, or loss your way, Stanton’s words remind us: the only way forward is to keep moving, keep trying, keep singing.

Keep A-Goin’!

Frank Lebby Stanton

Ef you strike a thorn or rose,
    Keep a-goin’!
  Ef it hails, or ef it snows,
    Keep a-goin!
  ‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine,
  When the fish ain’t on yer line;
  Bait yer hook an’ keep a-tryin’—
    Keep a-goin’!

  When the weather kills yer crop,
    Keep a-goin’!
  When you tumble from the top,
    Keep a-goin’!
  S’pose you’re out of every dime,
  Bein’ so ain’t any crime;
  Tell the world you’re feelin’ prime—
    Keep a-goin’!

  When it looks like all is up,
    Keep a-goin’!
  Drain the sweetness from the cup,
    Keep a-goin’!
  See the wild birds on the wing,
  Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
  When you feel like sighin’ sing—
    Keep a-goin’!

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✨ Reflection

Frank Lebby Stanton’s “Keep A-Goin’” is more than a poem—it’s a call to courage. Life’s thorns and roses, its hailstorms and sunny days, come to us all. Stanton’s wisdom is simple but profound: don’t get stuck in defeat. Keep casting your line, keep planting your seeds, keep moving forward even when the path feels heavy. The poem urges us to find joy, even in sorrow, by choosing persistence over despair and song over sighs. What matters most is not the size of our trials but the spirit with which we face them. To keep going is not to deny hardship but to affirm that hope still lives in us, even when circumstances say otherwise.

❓ Questions for Deeper Reflection

  1. What “thorn or rose” in your own life has tested your ability to keep going?
  2. How might perseverance be an act of faith rather than just stubbornness?
  3. When have you chosen to “sing instead of sigh”—and how did that change your outlook?

Doors of Daring ~ A Poem by Henry Van Dyke

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What if the barriers in your life weren’t obstacles—but invitations to rise, risk, and live fully?

Doors of Daring

Henry Van Dyke

The mountains that enfold the vale
    With walls of granite, steep and high,
Invite the fearless foot to scale
    Their stairway toward the sky.

The restless, deep, dividing sea
    That flows and foams from shore to shore,
Calls to its sunburned chivalry,
    “Push out, set sail, explore!”

And all the bars at which we fret,
    That seem to prison and control,
Are but the doors of daring, set
    Ajar before the soul.

Say not, “Too poor,” but freely give;
    Sigh not, “Too weak,” but boldly try,
You never can begin to live
    Until you dare to die.

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Reflection:

In Doors of Daring, Van Dyke paints life not as a smooth path, but a rugged climb up granite cliffs, a wild voyage across open seas. These aren’t metaphors of despair—they’re summons to courage. He dares us to see limitations as opportunities for the soul to rise. The final stanza delivers the boldest challenge of all: true living begins only when we’re brave enough to risk comfort, safety, and self-imposed limits. In the poet’s world, freedom isn’t handed to us—it’s taken with boldness, heart first.

If you’ve been playing it safe, maybe today is the day to push that door open, even if it creaks.

🤔 Three Questions to Reflect Deeper:

  1. What “bars” in your life might actually be doors of daring left slightly ajar?
  2. How have fear or comfort zones kept you from setting sail or scaling your personal mountain?
  3. What part of you must metaphorically “die” in order for a braver version of you to truly live?

Episode 142: The Journey of Grief – Awakening to Healing Through Poetry

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In Episode 142, we explore the inevitability of suffering and grief, a universal experience that touches us all. For those who have experienced the pain of loss, suffering becomes a deep, shared journey. Understanding grief can be transformative, awakening in us empathy, resilience, and the desire to heal.

This episode reflects on the poetry of Patience Strong, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Mary Oliver to guide us through the emotional tug of war between light and darkness. These poets illuminate the difficult but profound path from grief to joy, helping us navigate the struggles that arise when we feel torn between holding on to pain and reaching for healing. Their words offer hope that moments of joy will return, signaling the resurrection of life within us.

Tune in to hear insights on grief, healing, and the soul’s awakening, along with reflections on the beautiful power of poetry to comfort and guide us through life’s most challenging moments.

Keywords: Grief, Healing, Suffering, Awakening, Poetry, Patience Strong, Rainer Maria Rilke, Mary Oliver, Joy, Episode 142, Path to Healing

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