These heroes are dead.  They died for liberty - they died for us.  They are at rest.  They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines.  They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest.  Earth may run red with other wars - they are at peace.  In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death.  I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead:  cheers for the living; tears for the dead.  ~Robert G. Ingersoll

Remembering those who have courageously served our country and continue to serve...true patriots deserving the utmost respect and gratitude.  -In memory of Clayton D. Gard who served valiantly in WWII and in honor of his grandson's who continue to make the family proud.

Want the change....

The Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.

What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.

Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.

Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

"Feeling Sorry for Myself"

This poem made me smile this morning!  Seemed to put things in perspective a little bit....nothing is that bad right?  

....I shake and shiver.....grinning!  

Hope you have a good Wednesday!  

Feeling Sorry for Myself 

I start with a groan, swelling to a moan, 
rising to a keen, ascending 
to a shriek that tapers off in a thin wail. 
I hug myself and, whimpering, 
rock back and forth on my heels. 
No one has ever known such sadness. 
No one can grasp how I feel. 

I smash an egg over each eye. 
I smear my face with coal and pepper. 
I wear a paper bag soaked through 
with spoiled watermelon and pork grease. 
I shred my happy past - my books, 
pictures, and poems, published or not. 
I'll never fly fish again. 

I'll never make love again. 
I'll never sit outside and watch night 
stretch its starry tent over the sky. 
There will be no more metaphors. 
I am more sorrowful than a sorrowing man. 
Life has no more meaning to me 
than a life without meaning. 

My heart slows. My blood congeals 
to brown, vein-clogging mush. 
My stomach goes on strike; my colon 
bars its door. People assume 
I'm terminal. They imagine what 
would make them feel the way I look, 
and project their paltry problems onto me. 

As if they could fathom my misery 
by waterwinging over its abyss! 
My pain is too heavy to lift, 
too vast to measure, too ineffable to name, 
and incalculably too precious to share. 
I dig my grave in a landfill, and topple in. 
I rub dirt and dog droppings in my hair. 

I've sunk so low its funny; so I start to giggle. 
Then to chortle. Then to roar. Mothers 
clutch their bleating kids, and rush away. 
Gangbangers dash to the far side of the street. 
I crawl out of my grave, strip, and shower 
with a gunk-filled water hose. 
I shake and shiver, grinning, in the filthy air. 

~ Charles Harper Webb ~

The Journey

The following has been my favorite Mary Oliver poem for a long time.  It's funny how you can read something that you have read and dissected a hundred times before through new eyes.  It's funny how it can help bring another piece of the puzzle together in your mind!  

....determined to save the only life I can save......

Keep smiling dear friends!

The Journey 

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save. 

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Dream Work)

Begin Again!

MONDAY MORNING has arrived.  My note from the 'Universe' this morning brings me a smile, brings me inspiration.  I also receive daily poems and my poem for today uncannily is very fitting for how I am feeling, what I am trying to achieve right now....

Just want to find my smile and begin again!  

I have been scared before, I have been lost, I have been knocked down; I did overcome, I did rise again....I did find my next storm of creativity, love, and fun! 

 

I can do it again; Yes Lord, I can!!  

Have a great week my dear friends!!  

Hey, Cindy... 

It's OK. Everything is fine. You've always been guided. Even now you are watched, and held, and adored. You've made great stuff happen, and you will make more great stuff happen. You've changed lives. You've changed your own. You've moved mountains and done the impossible. You've been scared and you overcame. You've been knocked down and you rose. And you've been lost, or so you thought, only to discover it was just the calm before another storm of creativity, love, and fun.

Humbled like the rest of 'em,
    The Universe

***********************
Begin

Begin again to the summoning birds
to the sight of light at the window,
begin to the roar of morning traffic
all along 
Every beginning is a promise
born in light and dying in dark
determination and exaltation of springtime
flowering the way to work.
Begin to the pageant of queuing girls
the arrogant loneliness of swans in the canal
bridges linking the past and future
old friends passing though with us still.

Begin to the loneliness that cannot end
since it perhaps is what makes us begin,
begin to wonder at unknown faces
at crying birds in the sudden rain
at branches stark in the willing sunlight
at seagulls foraging for bread
at couples sharing a sunny secret
alone together while making good.

Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.

~ Brendan Kennelly ~

What a beautiful day in Arizona!  It is sunny with a little breeze.  Very hot in the sun, but not too hot....yet!

I am smiling, I know that I have a good life and a lot of people who love me!  What more could I ask for.

Sometimes you put your faith in people that do not deserve it.  Sometimes you make someone your entire world and leave yourself totally out of the equation.  You lose yourself in the process of caring for others, of worrying about others, of trying to be the person you think you're supposed to be.  

So now, it's time for ME!  Sometimes messed up, sometimes indecisive, sometimes goofy, quirky, silly me with all of my positive attributes, all of my notions about the world and the people in it, it's time for me.  What a gift I have been given!  I just need to keep unwrapping the package to find all of the answers.

God has a reason for things.  I don't know what they are sometimes, but I do know everything happens for a reason!  There are brighter days to come,  for now I am blessed!

I have a fantastic job with the most wonderful people you could imagine.  My family is healthy, I have an exciting wedding coming up this fall, I live in a great place, my children surround me with love.  What more is there....when you have raised your children to be caring and compassionate, to be there for others when the chips are down, you know that you have done your job.  No matter what madness may surround my world, I have done a good job!  I have the sweetest granddaughter, I have connected with my sister again who I missed so much, I have support, I have caring, I feel the love. 

That's what I wish for you....to feel the love!

Have a great weekend!

Cindy

Rumi

Can't You See the Mighty Warrior?

How often you ask,

What is my path?

What is my cure?

He has made you a seeker of Unity,

isn't that enough?

All your sorrow exists for one reason -

that you may end sorrow forever.

The desire to know your own soul

will end all other desires.

The smell of bread has reached you -

if that aroma fills you with delight

what need is there for bread?

If you have fallen in love,

that love is proof enough;

If you have not fallen in love,

what good is all your proof?

Can't you see? -

If you are not the King

what meaning is there

in a kingly entourage?

If the beautiful one is not inside you

what is that light

hidden under your cloak?

From a distance you tremble with fear -

Can't you see the mighty warrior

standing ready in your heart?

The fire of his eyes 

has burned away every veil,

So why do you remain behind the curtain,

scared of what you cannot see? -

Open your eyes! The Beloved

is staring you right in the face!

If a master has not placed

His light in your heart,

What joy can you find in this world? -

every flower is lifeless,

and sweet wine has no taste.

~ Rumi ~

la recherche de la lumière-

Searching for the light!

The Universe!

I get notes from the 'Universe' every day in my email. Some days it is just plain uncanny how they match what I am feeling! For example, some I have gotten lately:

Life itself, Cindy - not your friends, partners, or peers - is your source.

Dance with life. Dance with me.

Dance, no matter what others may think, say, or do.

You can have it all.

1, 2, 3, lean, dip, shake -
The Universe

*************************

If everyone really knew how much they were loved, Cindy,

not only from "above," but by everyone now in their life,

there'd be little hearts drawn

on everything from wheelbarrows to

skyscrapers to jumbo jets.
And I so look forward to that day.

Big heart,
The Universe

*************************

Wake up, Cindy! Remember what excites you.

Think of these things, those friends, and the adventures that can be yours.

Focus. Care. Fantasize. Imagine.

It's all so near.

Speak as if you're ready.

Paste new pictures in your scrapbook, on your vision board,

and around your home and office.

Physically prepare for the changes that you wish to experience in your life.

You've done this before.

You know it works. You're due for an encore.

It's time to amaze. That's why you're there.

And it's why I'm here,
The Universe

*************************
Dare not wish to change even the slightest thing about
a loved one, Cindy,
without first understanding how it might
change the rest of them.

Keep your eye on the ball,
The Universe