I cannot remember when I first started reading Khalil Gibran poetry, but I love it. Somehow it tends to circle back to me every few months, and often right when I can appreciate it the most. This week has been one of those times.
Khalil Gibran 1883-1931
Third best selling poet of all time.
Third best selling poet of all time.
Dark, stormy days like we’ve enjoyed this week are perfect for a poetry infusion, don’t you think? Add in a homemade latte and some toasty croissants with strawberry jam… and it’s pretty much pure indulgence.
Following are a few snippets of what I love from this man… Remember these are snippets, just parts of longer poems. And I urge you to find the full text on your own. Read them curled up under a soft blanket or stretched out beneath the massaging sun…
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This first one touches painfully and honestly on every aspect of motherhood. It reminds me of advice I once received before my youngest daughter underwent her first brain surgery, to regard myself only as a “vessel” for love and healing. Not as the actual Source of love and healing. This passage has helped me let go in recent years too, for the peace of mind of both of my sweet girls… It reminds me that love is not selfish and that life is constantly moving forward..
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They came through you but not from you
and though they are with you
yet they belong not to you.
Speaking of making room to breathe and grow… Of letting go just a little bit… It applies to romance and marriage too. I know from experience that insisting on too much is unkind. Demanding too much is unproductive. And too much too much is just smothering to both of you. Those lessons are good in and of themselves, but Gibran says it so musically…
But let there be spaces in your togetherness
and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love;
let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Everything passes… Keep the long view and anticipate beauty… I want my friend Melissa to internalize this next one…
Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.
Have you read The Secret yet? These principles are cropping up everywhere I look.
All that spirits desire, spirits attain.
This next one is startling if you think about it…
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
On poetry, by the poet…
Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder,
with a dash of the dictionary.
Faith… Difficult to remember sometimes, but faith is a spiritual and emotional choice independent from reason, logic, and every other method of the intellect. Faith is a condition of the heart that you can determine yourself to enjoy. Faith is also something you can encourage in others, by letting them know they are not alone and that their hopes are not futile.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know
that faith is his twin brother.
Faith is a knowledge within the heart,
beyond the reach of proof.
And last is perhaps my favorite Gibran snippet. Like icing on the cake I happened upon some representative artwork to illustrate these beautiful lines… I am day dreaming of the soft green grass that will soon be growing from this week’s torrential downpour Oklahoma is on the road to recovery from two years of serious drought, and the temperatures are coaxing us outdoors longer and longer each day…
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.
Isn’t this wonderful?? It is a painting by Kayann Ausherman.
I found this generous artist via Pinterest and was lucky enough
to make contact with her and gain permission to use this colorful image.
Kayann is an inspirational artist in Kansas
who runs the most luscious Etsy shop called From Victory Road
You can find her on Facebook and also follow her blog right here.
Really lovely stuff. Thanks for your permission to use this beautiful painting, Kenyann!
So very nice to meet you.
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I hope you enjoyed that, friends! I love to temper long, heavy reading projects with doses of poetry like this. Particularly when the poet is time tested and uplifting. It teases my soul pleasantly for sure.
Who are your favorite poets?
xoxoxoxo