Love All, Trust Few, Harm None

thestuffedalligator:

thebibliosphere:

songofsunset:

rubynye:

cacchieressa:

babbleismysuperpower:

roach-works:

hey reblog this with a piece of your favorite poem, please

   When we sleep for good, I would like a tree.
I would like Ann to have a tree, too.
We can be side by side,
on one of the hills that we used to explore.
   My tree will be bigger. I loved him more.
Ann is the one he picked first. But he came back for me.

(Rick Bass, from The Odyssey) 

Missing someone is like hearing
a name sung quietly from somewhere
behind you. Even after you know
no one is there, you keep looking back
until on a silver afternoon like this
you find yourself breathing just enough
to make a small dent in the air.

–from “Slow Dance” by Tim Seibles

Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled: They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it. What matter to me if their star is a world? Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.

– from “My Star” by Robert Browning

And nearer fast and nearer
Doth the red whirlwind come;
And louder still and still more loud,
From underneath that rolling cloud
Is heard the trumpet’s war-note proud,
The trampling, and the hum.
And plainly and more plainly
Now through the gloom appears,
Far to left and far to right,
In broken gleams of dark-blue light,
The long array of helmets bright,
The long array of spears.

- Horatius at the Bridge by Thomas Babington Macaulay

Yes, we’d like to
clap the camels,
to smell the spice,
admire her hairy legs and
bonny wicked smile, we want to take
PhDs in Persian, be vice
to her president: we want
to help her
ask some Difficult Questions
she’s shouting for our wisest man
to test her mettle:
Scour Scotland for a Solomon!
Sure enough: from the back of the crowd
someone growls:
whae do you think y'ur?
and a thousand laughing girls and she
draw our hot breath
and shout

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA!

Kathleen Jamie’s The Queen of Sheba

I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: ‘I’ll just take a peep inside.
I guess he’s cooked, and it’s time I looked’; …then the door I opened wide.

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: 'Please close that door.
It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm -
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.’

— The Cremation of Sam McGee, Robert W. Service

By the toe of my boot,
a pebble of quartz
One drop of the earth’s milk,
dirty and cold.
I held it to the light
and could almost see through it,
Into the grand explanation.
Put it back, something told me.
Put it back and keep walking.

-On the Road, Ted Kooser