Togetherness

Perhaps only those people who are capable of real togetherness have that look of being alone in the world.

~© D.H. Lawrence~

Recognizing Love

If I am unaware of love, I live drably. If I become intoxicated with love, I live in dreamland. If I recognize love, and shake his hand then comfort, dreams, and sometimes intoxication become mine to drench in and give away as well.

~© Nellie Curtiss~

They'd Know

If the government could read my mind, they’d know I’m thinking of you.

~© The Vandals~

Parents Grow, Too

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself.

~© Joyce Maynard~

When Best Friends Love

You entered my life like a gentle sigh,
like a quiet breeze blowing softly through the leaves.
You were a stranger first, one who laughed freely and easily,
who spoke of minor intimacies and common grounds,
who made me feel strangely liked and valued.
You became my friend, no longer a stranger,
trusting me with secrets hidden,
confiding what you liked and hated.
We talked and laughed and, as time passed by,
I grew more and more dependent upon your smile.

From strangers to friends was just a baby step,
a step a thousand others take every day.
Without your trust and trusting ways,
without your smiles and encouraging gaze,
I would never have taken the step beyond.
But the gentle breeze blowing through the leaves
is relentless and never ending.
We became closer friends, and closer still,
until much of my life was centered around the times
we spent
together.

We traveled far along the path of friendship,
avoiding the bumps somehow, never stumbling,
always in step with one another.
You were my guide, my eyes and ears,
the unfailing light that lit the road before us.
Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder,
you brought me along our course,
to a destination I had never seen before.
You became my best friend along that journey,
the anchor in my life where none had ever been.

You did a good job of guiding our steps,
a job no other could ever do,
and it wasn't your fault, really, when I stumbled.
Somewhere along our path,
perhaps where the heights were making me dizzy with joy,
I simply lost my balance and fell.
By the grace of God, I fell not to either side, nor to the rear,
but fell instead forward, along the path we'd tread.
My plunge forward was unguided, and my steps were steps you never
intended.
I fell in love with you.

From strangers, to
friends, to close friends, to best friends.
And beyond.
I've never been sorry for any step we've taken together,
no, not even for the fall I took alone.
I never knew, before knowing you, how empty my life had been.
I thought I was happy. I thought I was successful.
I thought I had known love and all that love can bring.
But the gentle breeze, blowing softly through the leaves,
carries the smell of wild flowers and still wilder beasts,
and what you brought into my life can never be assessed.

We are so very different, you and I. And yet so much the same.
And our differences merge with our similarities,
giving rise to something special and unique.
We talk.
Of all the things I value about this thing that is us,
and there are so many I often lose count,
I value most the way we talk about any thing any time any where.
And each time I listen to you, each time I ponder what you've said,
I learn something new. About you.
About me. About the world.
I've learned to trust in your instincts.

I love the vitality and zest that is so much a part of you.
I never would have believed the breeze, blowing softly through the
leaves,
could be so filled with life.
I treasure that spark of spirit in you,
that flashing flare of fire that animates all that you do.
It's easy to see how much you love life,
even when life is sometimes less than lovable,
and that love is always mirrored in your eyes and smile.
You are never more beautiful than when that spark ignites
and your vitality blazes in your happy face.

I love the way you trust in me, never quite whole hearted,
but always just enough.
That trust started as a small seed, I think,
a tentative whisper of unearned confidence,
often shrouded by a cloak of hesitation and unsurety.
I could always tell when you faltered,
when the steps we took were uncertain and questioned.
And yet still you
trusted me,
with your secrets, with your feelings, with yourself.
You'll never know how much that trust has meant to me.

I love the way you understand me too well.
It's uncanny sometimes how well you know my thoughts, my feelings, my
moods,
frightening at times how closely our lives have become interlinked.
You know so much of me, secrets I've never told,
thoughts I've never shared, parts of me I've never seen myself.
You've discovered a window into my being,
a window I didn't know was there,
a window no one else has ever found.
It's almost as if our two souls have merged into one,
almost as if the hand of God has repaired that which once was broken.

I love the way we have fun doing the strangest things,
or the way we can enjoy each other doing nothing at all.
We shop and walk, eat and talk,
playing games apart and united.
We study and drill, work and play,
listening to music and singing the words
together.
We have fun with each other,
frolicking in our shared pleasures,
you enjoying the thrill of life,
me just enjoying you.

I'm not blinded by my love, though, and know you are not perfect.
You are impatient and easy to anger,
too intolerant when you should tolerate,
too forgiving when you shouldn't forgive.
You allow the stresses of life to mold your day,
allow the commitments of life to shape your way.
I know your imperfections as well as your perfections,
know your faults as well as your assets.
And I find I love you not in spite of those,
but as much because of them as anything else.

Your life has touched mine.
My friendship with you, my love for you,
all that you are and aren't,
have changed my life in ways you cannot fathom,
in ways I could never describe in depth.
The gentle breeze, blowing softly through the leaves,
has worked her wondrous magic,
transforming the one she touched.
I'm
not the same man I was a year ago.
I will never be that man again.

The communication we've shared has taught me to value our honest
openness,
and I know I'll never be satisfied again with less.
Your trust in me has taught me to trust in you,
knowing you will never intentionally cause me pain.
Your spark of vitality has transformed the way I see life,
giving me reason again to live and cause to celebrate.
Your beauty, both inner and outer, has renewed the wonder
with which I see the world, and has restored my sense of awe.
Even the fun we share, that senseless sense of joy,
has changed the way I live and think.

As much as you've altered my present, though,
the effect you've had on my future is just as great.
I once thought I knew what love meant to me,
once thought I had experienced all that life had to offer.
I lived and I loved, and I hurt and I grew,
and I believed I could never love again,
could never
willingly face the pain of caring.
Love was a myth, I thought, and true love, lasting love,
was just a lie told by poets.
But I was wrong.

In learning to love you, I discovered I've never loved before.
Not truly. Not entirely. Not eternally.
I've spent much of my life in love with love,
searching for the fulfillment of a concept,
caring more for caring than caring for another person.
I confused lust with love, intimacy with affection.
And when those feelings waned, when the relationships died,
I wondered why I felt so empty. So hurt.
You changed that, as you've changed so much else.
You taught me how to love.

I wish you knew the me of before,
as you know so well the me of today,
so you could see the difference knowing you has made.
You've changed my life in so many ways,
in ways small and ways important,
in ways you'll never know nor understand.
The impact you've had on me,
on the way I feel and think
and act,
will endure forever. Until the end of time.
Like a quiet breeze blowing softly through the leaves.

~© Ron Carnell~

Home

I am glad to be home.

~© Nat King Cole~

The Real Deprivation

There is only one real deprivation...and that is not to be able to give one's gifts to those one loves most.

~© May Sarton~

...Forever...

When the sun rises above the horizon
bringing forth the day –
My heart whispers your name.
When the sun hovers proudly above the Earth
casting all sadness away –
My heart whispers your name.
When the sun sinks below the Earth’s edge
having painted its promise to return one day –
My heart whispers your name.

Like the blood flowing through my veins
You are a part of me –
Deeply ingrained in my heart.

And should the sun ever sink never to rise again
And your heart ceases to beat my name in refrain,
Then my heart will continue whispering its endless whisper – your name.

Like the flesh covering my body
You are a part of me –
Deeply ingrained in my heart.

…Forever…

~© Melanie Bartelt~

At This Very Minute

There are so many things I'm not sure of in life, but with all certainty at this very minute, all I know is that I miss him.

~© Author Unknown~

Excuse Me

Excuse me.

I am currently
afflicted with the world's
Number one crippler:
Infatuation Fixation Paralysis,

Commonly referred to as love.

Any spare comfort
You have to give
Would be most appreciated,
Although my ability to receive
May be temporarily impared.

Thank you.

~© Peter McWilliams~

Cheating Absence

Separated lovers cheat absence by a thousand fancies which have their own reality. They are prevented from seeing one another and they cannot write; nevertheless they find countless mysterious ways of corresponding, by sending each other the song of birds, the scent of flowers, the laughter of children, the light of the sun, the sighing of the wind, and the gleam of the stars --all the beauties of creation.

~© Victor Hugo~

Your Presence

Your presence in my life brings wonderful smiles and loving thoughts within my heart.

~© Author Unknown~

Happiness

I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.

~© John Stuart Mill~

In A Casual Conversation II

We talk around the heart of our conversation
like fire flies compelled by the light’s attraction.
It seems almost fatalistic - the direction marked
even in the simplest of phrases by the uncontrollable
slow pauses between.

Yet we manage to pull away just in time.
saved by the distraction of sensibility
This is not a free world, the world of human beings.
We are constantly being watched: by roving
memories.

At night we share a dream canvas -
pointillist painters clarifying everything
we mean to say stroke by stroke, dot by dot.

When we meet we shyly glance into each
other’s eyes momentarily, checking on the progress
we’ve made, the treasures in lessening
the divide.

~© Michael Kelsey~

A Smile For Today

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!" he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

~© A.A. Milne~

The Whole Of Life

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.

~© Jiddu Krishnamurti~

I Would Love To

I would love to spend all my time writing to you; I'd love to share with you all that goes through my mind, all that weighs on my heart, all that gives air to my soul; phantoms of art, dreams that would be so beautiful if they could come true.

~© Luigi Pirandello~

The Important Moments In Life

Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these.

~© Susan B. Anthony~

If I Had To Choose A Religion...

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

~© Napoleon Bonaparte~

Love Is The Offspring...

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship
and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual
affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it
will not be created for years or even generations.

~© Khalil Gibran~

Catch Me...

Catch me and let me dive under, for I want to swim in the pools of your eyes.

~© Annie Lennox~

One Look

I took one look at you
Thats all I meant to do
And my heart stood still.

~© Lorenz Hart~

The Moment Before

I want to touch
the sharp taste
of the moment in between
the second just before
the place where
the breath catches
in anticipation.

It's the scent of heat held in the air
between two mouths
reaching for each other, hungry.
The shine of moisture on slightly parted lips
just before
it melts into
the wetness of the other.

It is the skin that tingles
waiting
fine hairs at attention
reaching
aching.
It is the places that have not yet been touched
but know they will be.
It is the smooth, quivering paleness
of the inner thigh
as the outer is stroked and kneaded.
The muscles of the abdomen tightening
the back arching slightly
begging
come here
quickly
slowly.

There, in that moment
do not take your eyes from mine.
I am here
awake
1 am
reaching
to be
met.

Do not touch me and keep your soul
out of your fingertips.
Die into me
or do not come into me at all.
Ever after is in this moment
happily or not.

Sacrifice the daydream.
Dare to hold the desire
for a great love.

Be with me.

~© Oriah Mountain Dreamer~

Quotations

Quotation --- yes, but how differently persons quote! I am as much informed of your genius by what you select, as by what you originate. I read the quotation with your eyes, & find a new & fervent sense... For good quoting, then, there must be originality in the quoter --- bent, bias, delight in the truth, & only valuing the author in the measure of his agreement with the truth which we see, & which he had the luck to see first.

And originality, what is that? It is being; being somebody, being yourself, & reporting accurately what you see & are. If another's words describe your fact, use them as freely as you use the language & the alphabet, whose use does not impair your originality. Neither will another's sentiment or distinction impugn your sufficiency. Yet in proportion to your reality of life & perception, will be your difficulty of finding yourself expressed in others' words or deeds.

~© Ralph Waldo Emerson~

In Memory Of Jean Jarvis

Gone, gone, gone beyond. Gone completely beyond. Awakened.

~© The Heart Sutra~

Till You Opened My Eyes

Down, down, down deeper into love
All around, I can feel your love
All my life I've been dreaming
Night into morning
Till you opened my eyes

Love, love, love such a mystery
Golden light shining down on me
Soft and warm as the warming
But I never saw it
Till you opened my eyes

Floating in circles, I'm flying
It feels so good that I'm crying

Down, down, down deep inside of me
Love, sweet love's all that I can see
Golden light keeps on shining
Shining forever, since you opened my eyes

~© John Denver~

Good Day Sunshine

I need to laugh and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about.

~© Excerpted Lyrics Of The Beatles~

Smiles

Smiles are the soul's kisses. ~Minna Thomas Antrim~

A smile brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature's best antidote for trouble. ~Author Unknown~

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa~

The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heart-felt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge~

All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile. ~Chris Hart~

A friendly look, a kindly smile, one good act, and life's worthwhile. ~Author Unknown~

Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.~

To A Friend

I ask but one thing of you, only one,
That always you will be my dream of you;
That never shall I wake to find untrue
All this I have believed and rested on,
Forever vanished, like a vision gone
Out into the night. Alas, how few
There are who strike in us a chord we knew
Existed, but so seldom heard its tone
We tremble at the half-forgotten sound.
The world is full of rude awakenings
And heaven-born castles shattered to the ground,
Yet still our human longing vainly clings
To a belief in beauty through all wrongs.
O stay your hand, and leave my heart its songs!

~© Amy Lowell~

Knowledge And Mystery

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

~© Anais Nin~

To Fall In Love...

To fall in love is easy, even to remain in it is not difficult; our human loneliness is cause enough. But it is a hard quest worth making to find a comrade through whose steady presence one becomes steadily the person one desires to be.

~© Anna Louise Strong~

The Field

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense.

~© Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi~

Listening

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.

~© Karl Menninger~