In Honor of National Poetry Month Selected Poems

One went to the door of the Beloved and
knocked. A voice asked, 'Who is there?'
He answered, 'It is I.' The voice said, 'There is no room for Me and Thee.'
The door was shut.After a year of solitude and deprivation he returned and knocked.
A voice from within asked, 'Who is there?'
The man said, 'It is Thee.'
The door was opened for him.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi

A CRUST of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
     And that is life!

A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
     And that is life!

            ~Paul Lawrence Dunbar

The Road Not Taken

     

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

          ~Robert Frost

National Poetry Month and Timeless poetry

In celebration of National Poetry Month enjoy the timeless poetry of Rumi and other enlightened poets.

Some people work and become wealthy.
Others do the same and remain poor.
Marriage fills one with energy.
Another it drains.
Don't trust ways, they change.
A means flails about like a donkey's tail.
Always add the gratitude clause
To any sentence, if God wills,
Then go...
                                          Rumi

Living

Oh, what a beautiful thing.
I didn’t know how blessed I was until I woke hearing the birds chirp,
Seeing the sun rising and smelling the lilies blooming.
Oh, what a beautiful thing
I didn’t know how blessed I was until I felt the warm heart beats of the
Ones I love and walked in the shoes of my neighbors and friends.
Oh, what a beautiful thing.
I didn’t know how blessed I was until I stretched my mind
To see beyond the ordinary and reach out for the unattainable.
Oh, what a beautiful thing,
I didn’t know how blessed I was until I released the shuckles
That bound my mind that kept my body in bondage.
Oh, what a beautiful thing----Life

                                             Anonymous

---

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations;
it isn't granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own!
But I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.
I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said...Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

                                                              Anonymous