hello, James!

WB Yeats

I first read this when I was ten or eleven.  I can't remember exactly when it was, but I can remember reading it in my pink bedroom in the Matopos!

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven
by William Butler Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti is another favorite poet.  Her words are sad but there is still beauty in them.

Mirage

The hope I dreamed of was a dream,
Was but a dream; and now I wake,
Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old,
For a dream's sake.

I hang my harp upon a tree,
A weeping willow in a lake;
I hang my silent harp there, wrung and snapped
For a dream's sake.

Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed
For a dream's sake.

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. In happy dreams I hold you full in night. I blush again who waking look so wan; Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. Thus only in a dream we are at one, Thus only in a dream we give and take The faith that maketh rich who take or give; If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, To die were surely sweeter than to live, Though there be nothing new beneath the sun. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake]

  by Christina Rossetti

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might 
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on; 
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone, 
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight. 
In happy dreams I hold you full in night. 
I blush again who waking look so wan; 
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone, 
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night. 
Thus only in a dream we are at one, 
Thus only in a dream we give and take 
The faith that maketh rich who take or give; 
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake, 
To die were surely sweeter than to live, 
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19450#sthash.pNVJujMw.dpuf

Pennsylvania Sunset

Beautiful words

I hope someday to be able to use words with the skill of these poets.

For one human being to love another is perhaps the most difficult task of all, the epitome, the ultimate test.  It is that striving for which all other striving is merely preparation.

-Rainer Maria Rilke.

~~~~

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain. 

-Emily Dickinson

~~~~

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

-William Blake

Wanderlust

My current passport expires next year, and I'm starting my paperwork to renew my passport tonight.  I'm so glad the State department will return this passport as well as my new one.  These stamps and visas are the footprints of my travels around this fabulous world.  

This passport was issued almost ten years ago.  In that time, I've done almost all of my independent travels.  I've been on four continents and in over twenty countries.  Each place has been incredible.  

I used to always want to go somewhere new, someplace previously unexplored by Hope.  Perhaps age is mellowing me, but now I have some places that I long to return to as well.  I would love to visit a friend in Tanzania and take a ferry to Zanzibar.  Each time I speak to a Moroccan, I am tugged towards the vibrant colors I see in pictures of Fez and Casablanca.  I am in awe of the bright lights and sheer numbers of China.  Perhaps I could teach in the tropical humidity of Jakarta...But my fickle heart persists in reminding me of the red dirt roads of Africa, flat topped acacia trees, and the flaming orange sun as it drops below the horizon.  

As my studies continue, I anticipate knowing where this degree (and hopefully a job!) will take me.  Will it be Indonesia, or China, or UAE, or Mozambique, or Kazakhstan?  Each has an appeal to my adventurous TCK heart! 

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the following poem for the Lord of the Rings.  I love the second line.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.