I used to wear my heart upon my sleeve
But then it frayed,
And now I'm left with a pile of string

In a happy reign there should be no hermits;
The wise and able should consult together....
So you, a man of the eastern mountains,
Gave up your life of picking herbs
And came all the way to the Gate of Gold --
But you found your devotion unavailing.
...To spend the Day of No Fire on one of the southern rivers,
You have mended your spring clothes here in these northern cities.
I pour you the farewell wine as you set out from the capital --
Soon I shall be left behind here by my bosomfriend.
In your sail-boat of sweet cinnamon-wood
You will float again toward your own thatch door,
Led along by distant trees
To a sunset shining on a far-away town.
...What though your purpose happened to fail,
Doubt not that some of us can hear high music.

Oh, you have so much power
But you can't even see it
You could make her do anything
With a smile on her face
You could ask her anything
And she'd answer with her best quip
You could steal her heart
But she already gave it to you
--Giftwrapped-- With no hesitation
And you've held it hostage
Like the greedy boy you are

I will have to gather
All my shadows together,
Not like an army
Defending my body and mind,
Not like a wall, stone cold-
No; more like: to find
What is left of the real things
In me.

Because look; it’s like this-
See: shadows are not shadows to me
Any longer-
Black is not black in the way
It is to others.
And white, in a sense, is not white
And I am not even fighting
Not even-
Writing about it.

For here is why:
Daylight makes edges too sharp
For their contours to melt.
So, as for my heart, I speak
Only to you-
Do you see them-
Do you see the shadows, too?

And even now-
Even this was not a question.
For it is only why I want to be
With you.

Love life, Sir
That's all you have to do
Love life with all your heart
For that's what He loves
You have a heart mightier than all others, Sir
"Defeat your enemies with kindness. Hate feeds hate, only love slays it."
And love as deeply as you can
Because if you lose that love
All hope will be lost
And for when hopeless
It seems as if nothing
Nothing
Could be mended
In what seems like the end
That love will save you, Sir
"That is hope, even for the hopeless."
If you hold onto that love
You can outsmart the devil
"Put as much effort as possible into pursuing the best things you can think of."
Be the best that you can be
Polite and collected, Sir
Focus on what you can do
Instead of the price of failure
"And as little as possible into struggling against the bad."
Some things can be negotiated
Not all things come down to standard rules
"It's your heart that's most important, not the rules."
So if your heart shines boldly
And deeply your love is found
Defeating the devil through life
Should show no bounds, Sir

The snow it did not fall
only frost, thick as walls
creaking floors, a long hall
leading upward
where stars whispered
calling to the moon
from behind curtains,
branches and clouds