A PHOENIX FROM THE ASH

They crushed your spark,
Put off your fire,
Laughed at you,
When you lay there as ash.

Little did they know,
The more they burn you
The more you'll rise
Like a Phoenix from the ash.

~The Luna|

THE HONEY BAR HOTEL

By Shadowjo


*

The air hangs sluggishly in the room

The lights are dim and flickering

Spiders have long ago abandoned 

The stench and the bickering.


*

There once was much love here

Many-a-heart danced and fluttered

Where oaths and promises

Were frequently uttered.


*

But now the color has turned beige

It has lost the magic of its spell

All that lingers are the shadows

At the Honey Bar Hotel.


*

Source: Shadowlands

June 30, 2014

THE SERMON OF THE TREES

by Rado Gatchalian

i see the veins of man flowing

in every branch of a tree,

rushing through from earth

to the sweetest eloquence of air.


beneath the inhale, exhale, of life —

all roots speak of an immutable decree

that every matter shares the same ingredients,

as a leaf enthroned in the sky

so as the genius of a child.


whether you deny its existence

or glorify its infinite power —

a tree looks at you, and you look at the tree:

and a beauty is born in eternity.

ALL GOOD WILL COME BACK TO YOU

Sometimes, you are unsatisfied with your life,
While many people are dreaming of living your life.

A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead
And dreams of flying
But a pilot on the plane sees the farmhouse
And dreams of returning home.

That's life!
Enjoy yours!

If wealth is the secret to happiness,
Then the rich should be dancing on the streets.
But only poor kids do that.

If power ensures security,
Then officials should walk unguarded.
But those who live simply, sleep soundly.

If beauty and fame bring ideal relationships,
Then celebrities should have the best marriages.

Live simply, walk humbly, and love genuinely …
All good will come back to you.

~Anon~

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world
grows in me
and I wake in the night
at the least sound
in fear of what my life and
my children’s lives may be.
I go and lie down
where the wood drake
rests in his beauty
on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace
of wild things
who do not tax their lives
with forethought
of grief. I come into the
presence of still water.
And I feel above me the
day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
For a time
I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.

A MESSAGE FROM HEAVEN

By Robert Clancy

Just because you can't see me,
doesn't mean that I'm not there.
I'm the gentle breeze that kisses your face;
I'm the warmth of the passing air.
I've become every note
of beautiful music you've ever heard,
I'm the songs of love in your heart.
I know how much you miss me
And how hard you've tried to restart.
I'm always right there beside you,
I've become what we're all meant to be.
I'm the essence of every precious flower;
I'm the blossoms on every tree.
If you look to the heavens you might see me;
I just might be that bird passing above,
but the best place to see me
is the place we all call love.


🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊

A LIFE OF JOURNEYS

*

I have flirted with damnation

I have danced with the damned 

I have cried with the angels

I have laughed with the lost

I have endured with the sufferers

I have fought with the peaceful

I have lost to the rich

I have shared with the poor

I have dreamed of freedom

I have hurt with loved ones

I have learned from the ignorant 

I have taught the uneducated

I have drunk with the thirsty 

I have fed on crumbs

I have loved the loveless 

I have been loved with magic

I have lived a life of journeys

And now I have finally reached

My far horizon.


*

Words © by Shadowjo
April 16 2015

Source: Shadowlands

WHILE THERE IS HOPE THERE IS LIFE

By Wilfred A. Peterson

The well-known maxim, "While there is life there is hope," has a deeper meaning in reverse:
"While there is hope there is life."

Hope comes first, life follows.
Hope gives power to life.
Hope rouses life to continue, to expand,
to grow, to reach out, to go on.
Hope sees a light where there isn't any.
Hope lights candles in millions of despairing hearts.
Hope is the miracle medicine of the mind.
It inspires the will to live.
Hope is the physician's strongest ally.
Hope is our shield and buckler against defeat.

"Hope," wrote Alexander Pope, "springs eternal in the human breast."

And as long as it does we will triumph and move forward.
Hope never sounds retreat.
Hope keeps the banners flying.
Hope revives ideals, renews dreams, revitalizes visions.
Hope scales the peak, wrestles with the impossible,
achieves the highest aim.

"The word which God has written on the brow of every person," wrote Victor Hugo, "is Hope."

As long as we have hope no situation is hopeless.

"KEEP LOOKING UP..."

Source: "In the Garden of Faith, Hope and Love"

HIS JOURNEY'S JUST BEGUN

By Ellen Brenneman

Don't think of him as gone away -
His jorney's just begun,
Life holds so many facets -
This earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
From the sorrows and the tears
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
That we could know today
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.

And think of him as living
In the hearts of those he touched …
For nothing loved is ever lost -
And he was loved so much.

NB -
A poem contained in a sympathy card sent to Carol Smith of Orange, NSW.
SADLY, Carol too had passed-away.
My sincere condolence to Karen

THE BLINDFOLD

By Surf Reyes

In the brightest of days,
with the sun in our eyes,
we chose
to put on a blindfold,
covering our sight.
Then drowning in darkness,
where fear arose,
we wallow in wailing,
crying in prayer to the Sun
to give us light.

DID YOU EVER IMAGINE HOW HEAVEN WILL BE?

Did you ever imagine how heaven will be, 

what color the sky, the land or the sea?


I wonder if maybe the sky could be gold, 

with flowers too beautiful to behold.


I picture the trees with leaves colored pink,

near waters of crystal for people to drink,


and then in my mind I can see drops of dew,

all sparkling like diamonds, with bright crystal hue.


I am envisioning some soft snow or rain,

as warmly it melts on each window pane.


The birds will be every color and hue. 

They’ll land on your shoulder to cuddle with you!


The animals, able to smile and talk,

though some wild on earth, with you tamely will walk


I feel we might also be able to fly,

above trees and flowers, as we soar through the sky.


The homes and the mansions, breathtaking in sight, 

will thrill us and give us enormous delight!


Envision the gardens and water so clear, 

that of purest crystal to us will appear!


The food will be of such delectable taste, 

that not even a morsel, we will let go to waste.


Our family and friends will all be by our side, 

as in perfect love, we will gladly abide.


God in magnificence will smile and say,

“Welcome my child to eternal day!


Come let Me embrace you and show you the place,

in heaven you’ve earned for completing the race.


Now finally as you pass, through heaven’s door,

we’ll both be together, forevermore.


The things I have shown you just cannot compare, 

with all of the others that soon I will share.


Together in paradise we’ll stroll arm and arm,

eternally safe from life’s every alarm!”

Author: Anon(?)

Source: A Poem For Every Occasion
June 8, 2020

TO A PRECIOUS DAUGHTER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Noemi!!!

🎂🍸🌹🍾🌺🍨🥂🍰

A day of contrast today
Of what it was thirty-years ago.
It might not be as colourful as Fall
Nevertheless, it was a dreamy spectacle
That your crib days were rocked in Wonderland
Just as how I wished it to be.

My hope, my dream, my wish
Was granted by Mother Earth;
Whose soft nature you gladly inherited,
Sweet like watermelon that I craved.
From un-dimpled smile to a helpless cry,
You're a sweet baby of un-ending bliss.

Winter days do come and go
As life like wheels move to and fro;
Be they dreamy, be they weary;
They come year after year.
To us this season brings good cheers
With Little Zana, your special day is shared.

Joyful greetings and prayers blessed
From whom above that watched your birth;
We are as thankful that you are here
A precious daughter a universe behold:
Ever patient, ever strong, ever tender
A mother of two, her offsprings' dearly beloved.

Leah C. Dancel
Copyright @2020
All rights reserved
Australia
June 25, 2020

SET SAIL TO PARADISE

By @Sandra Dartt

The sails capture the sultry winds
Gliding across the turquoise sea
This is where our adventure begins
Embracing the need to be free
As the crystalline heavens reflect
the oceans aqua blue
Its beauty is for us to inspect
in the skies deep tropical hue
We skim the waves in tranquilly
bound for Key Largo’s enchanted shore
With all of its unspoiled serenity
here you'll open imaginations door
Sandy white beaches are spied
touched by the blazing sun
We go romping through the tide
as children once had done
Time here does not exist
in this idyllic place
Laughter is unable to resist
placing a smile upon your face
The coral reefs are spellbinding
we see fish in a rainbow array
This underwater world is unwinding
in a dazzling delightful display
The sun is setting in the west
Painting the azure sky
Twilight’s the time I love best
As the day bids us good-bye
The full moon now awakens
while night’s mysteries unfold
Love is for the taking
as its wonders we behold.

BE

Be the person who cares.
Be the person who makes an effort,
Who loves without hesitation.
Be the person who makes people feel seen.
There is nothing stronger than someone
Who continues to stay soft in a world
That hasn't always been kind to them.

~Anon~

THE PRESENCE OF LIGHT

"We are not saints; we are not heroes.
Our lives are lived in the quiet corners of the ordinary.
We build tiny hearth fires,
sometimes barely strong enough to give off warmth.

But to the person lost in the darkness,
our tiny flame may be the road to safety,
the path to salvation.

It is not given to us to know
who is lost in the darkness that surrounds us
or even if our light is seen.
We can only know that
against even the smallest of lights,
darkness cannot stand.

A sailor lost at sea
can be guided home by a single candle.
A person lost in a wood
can be led to safety by a flickering flame.
It is not an issue of quality or intensity or purity.
It is simply an issue of the presence of light."

~Kent Nerburn

Source: "Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace."

I AM FILIPINO

By Caloy Bueno

I am Filipino:

Descended from the noble and fiercely freedom-loving Maharlika race ~

From the forgotten ancient lands lost to the mists of time ~

Migrated to the place that formed a jade archipelago, the “Pearl of the Orient Seas”...


I am Filipino:

Molded independently through the crucible of past events down the ages ~

Becoming disparate tribes, according to where we settled in these islands ~

Our brown ancestry the only common bond across the inter-island seas...


I am Filipino:

Our common ancestry scattered over this archipelago runs through my blood ~

My brown skin the only living proof of our ancestral line, and our heritage ~

But intermingled now with the histories of other peoples that came to our jade isles...


I am Filipino:

A complex modern inhabitant of this our beloved Philippine Republic ~

While conflicted internally by many historical influences and debacles ~

We stand outwardly proud of our ancestral heritage, the Filipino identity of our brown unity…


I am Filipino:

Our quarrelsome character with each other grew from our separate development ~

But when we stand as one, we can dream as one, none can stand against us ~

We win as one, standing for one another as much as we rise together…


I am Filipino:

We are all related through our citizenry, our nationality joined in sovereignty ~

To forge our own destiny by the power that we wield with responsibility ~

Redefining ourselves constantly, by refining our aspirations ever closer to each other’s…


I am Filipino:

Realizing that we can only be as strong as we are able to mask our weakest point ~

We recognize that at long last, we now have real leadership strengthening our greatest weakness ~

Our incapacity to cooperate fully, by making the majesty of law finally work in our favor…


I am Filipino:

Each of us are born not with nobility of purpose but the ability to pursue a noble vision ~

Our keenest struggles as men are fought with our minds, hearts and souls ~

Because we believe fate isn’t decreed by predestination, but mainly determined by our character…


I am Filipino:

The hardest virtue we struggle to learn is earning the tranquility of patience ~

The serenity of calm acceptance and tolerance, and the dignity of quiet surrender ~

The surrender to life’s inscrutable wisdom and natural justice, measuring our individual worth and merit…


I am Filipino:

To the mute but clear challenge of our tomorrows, in the house of the future we cannot go ~

Only our children and their children, as the world constantly spins throughout time ~

Our future is our whole country, our individual destinies intertwined, reinforced by our still being…


FILIPINO!


~ 'pag may time 👊🇵🇭
May 27, 2020

WHERE DO YOU GO?

By Shadowlands

Where do you go?

When you lay down your head,

The eyes have drawn their curtains,

And your lights have been turned off.

You're all cocooned in linen 

And silence reigns supreme.

When the ghosts of memories past

Play hopscotch with your senses?

"Where do you go?

When reality has gone on vacation 

And your visions are a collection of moments,

Lost through time and space.
When fatigue is like a lead blanket,

The body attempts to heal it's wounds

And the mind tries to tranquilize

The events of the day?"

Where do you go?

When the lights shine on faint recollections

And private thoughts gently cascade

From an overflowing fountain

Of a vivid imagination.

Do you know the path you take.

Or is the destination just as whimsical

As the journey you create

Through your mind's deepest catacombs?

Where do you go indeed?

Source: FB, May 24 2016

GRIEF AND SORROW

"If you're ever going to love me, love me now while I can know.
All the sweet and tender feelings which from real affection flow.
Love me now, while I'm living; do not wait 'til I am gone.
And then chisel it on marble - words on ice, cold stone.
If you have dear sweet thoughts about me.
Why not whisper them to me?
Don't you know it would make me happy and as glad as glad could be?
If you wait until I'm sleeping, never to awaken here again,
there will be walls of earth between us and couldn't hear you then.
I won't need your kind caresses when the grass grows over my face.
I won't crave your love or kisses in my last low resting place.
So then, if you love me any, if it's but a little bit.
Let me know while I am living, so I can own it treasure it."

~Anon

DELIGHTING POETRY

How much I find delight in poetry
With verses not long; one liners are best.
Stanzas are trimmed and cut to simpleness
Devoid of pageantry and pompous words.

I love the ones with landscape thoughts;
A portrait only minds can draw or paint.
Instead of pictures, words are inscribed
Designed to amaze, awe and inspire.

I walk along the trail that poets leave
Their stories, like my own, are found on the road of life.
Some are epics of better and mis-spent days
They give lessons to ponder under this covid mess.

Somewhere in between the lines I'm caught
In a trance lost to a forest of all that I believe
Forgetting the time that passes by
I'm soaked, immersed in words of the poets' fare.

Leah C. Dancel
Copyright@2020
All rights reserved
May 10, 2020
Australia

MOTHER

In dedication to my Late Mother and AUNTIE MARY, who recently passed away and by coincidence was buried on my mother's 39th Death Anniversary. May 16th 2020. Auntie is the wife of Uncle Alex who went ahead of time, but years later after my mother was gone. She's 91 years old when she was called to the Eternal Home. My mother died too young just as she had crossed over the bridge of her critical years.

~•✿•~ ~•✿•~

For those lucky to still be blessed with your Mom, this is beautiful.
For those of us who aren't, this is even more beautiful.
For those who are moms, you'll love this:

♥*✿*•♥

"The young mother set her foot on the path of life.
'Is this the long way?' she asked.

And the guide said:

'Yes, and the way is hard
And you will be old before you reach the end of it..
But the end will be better than the beginning.'

But the young mother was happy,
And she would not believe
That anything could be better than these years.

So she played with her children,
And gathered flowers for them along the way,
And bathed them in the clear streams;
And the sun shone on them,

And the young Mother cried,
'Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.'

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark,
And the children shook with fear and cold,
And the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle,

And the children said,
'Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come.'

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead,
And the children climbed and grew weary,
And the mother was weary.

But at all times she said to the children,
'A little patience and we are there.'

So the children climbed,
and when they reached the top they said,
'Mother, we would not have done it without you.'

And the mother, when she lay down at night
Looked up at the stars and said,

'This is a better day than the last,
For my children have learned fortitude
in the face of hardness.

Yesterday I gave them courage.
Today, I've given them strength.'

And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth,
Clouds of war and hate and evil,
And the children groped and stumbled,

And the mother said:
'Look up.
Lift your eyes to the light.'

And it guided them beyond the darkness.
And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years,
And the mother grew old and she was little and bent.

But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.
And when the way was rough, they lifted her,
For she was as light as a feather;
And at last they came to a hill,

And mother said,
'I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know the end is better than the beginning,
For my children can walk alone, and their children after them.'

And the children said,
'You will always walk with us,

She went on alone,
and the gates closed after her.

And they said:
'We cannot see her but she is with us still. '

Author Anon

FRIENDSHIP WITHOUT ENVY

Where in this wide world can man
find nobility without pride,

Friendship without envy,
Or beauty without vanity?

Here, where grace is served
with muscle..
And strength by gentleness
confined …

By Ronald Duncan

THE LAST TWIST OF KNIFE

‪The memory throws up high and dry‬
‪A crowd of twisted things;‬
‪A twisted branch upon the beach‬
‪Eaten smooth, and polished‬
‪As if the world gave up‬
‪The secret of its skeleton,‬
‪Stiff and white.‬
‪A broken spring in a factory yard,‬
‪Rust that clings to the form that the strength has left‬
‪Hard and curled and ready to snap.‬

‪Be ready for life‬
‪the last twist of the knife‬


By YESU BEN

A MEDITATION OF A TRAVELER (Part II)

by Rado Gatchalian

With all the searching and looking —
What shall I find?
Everything and nothing.
Alone in the dark yet accompanied by the light.
Of all the luminous things:
How shall I measure wisdom?

As I move from low to high
And from known to unknown —

Shall I remain like an empty cup?
Will I endure this test of life

And become a child forever?
Shall I embrace silence like a brother to me?
How shall I step toward that peaceful beauty

If what is spoken cannot be heard?

Like a star in a quiet night:

Soon, we shall all shine so bright.

Source: Poem and Photography

SHE WHO LOVES THE BEACH

By Suzy Toronto

No words can express,
The depth of her contentment,
As she walks along the beach.

As the waves lap against the shores,
They create the rhythm of her life,
Balmy breezes kiss,

Her sun-bronzed skin,
And she wonders …
Could there ever be a greater destiny,

Than to be born with a love,
For the treasures of the sea?
Here, she is home.

Source: Journey to Peace

A PSALM OF LIFE

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1807-1882)

What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
   "Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
   And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
   And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
   Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
   Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
   Finds us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
   And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
   Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
   In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
   Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
   Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
   Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
   We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
   Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
   Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
   Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
   With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing
   Learn to labor and to wait.

Source: Poets dot org