(On love by Kahlil Gibran ; A Translation)
Kung magkataon na tawagin ka ng pag-ibig, sumunod ka,
Kahit pa ang daan niya'y mahirap at matarik.
At kung yakapin ka ng kanyang mga pakpak ay magpaubaya ka,
Kahit pa ang mga punyal na nakatago sa kanyang mga balahibo ay kaya kang sugatan.
At kung mangusap siya sa iyo ay maniwala ka,
Kahit pa ang kanyang tinig ay kayang durugin ang iyong mga pangarap
Tulad ng pagsira ng hanging habagat sa mga halamanan.

Sapagkat kung paano ka parangalan ng pagibig ay ganoon ka din niya ipapako sa Krus.
‘Pagkat kahit pa siya'y para sa iyong paglago ay ganun din siya para sa iyong pagka-bulok.
Kahit pa pinayayabong ka nito sa iyong pinaka-mataas at hinahaplos ng liwanag nito ang iyong mga sanga,
Ganoon din niya huhugutin ang iyong mga ugat mula sa pagkakabaon nito sa lupa.

Tulad ng mga butil ng mais ay itinatali ka nito sa kanyang sarili.
Binabayo ka niya upang mahubdan
Ginigiling hanggang sa kuminis.
Minamasa hanggang sa lumambot
At ika'y kanyang isasalang sa kanyang banal na apoy, upang ika'y maging banal na alay na ihahain sa banal na pista ng Panginoon.

Ang lahat ng ito'y gagawin ng pagibig upang malaman mo ang mga lihim ng iyong puso, at sa kaalamang iyon ay maging bahagi ng puso ng buhay.

Ngunit kung sa iyong pagkatakot ay hanapin mo lamang ang kapayapaan at kasiyahan ng pagibig,
Ay mabuti pang ika'y magbihis at lumiban sa kanyang giikan,
Sa isang mundong walang kulay kung saan ikaw ay tatawa, ngunit hindi
lahat ng iyong kasiyahan, at iiyak, ngunit hindi lahat ng iyong luha.
Walang ibinibigay ang pagibig kundi ang kanyang sarili at walang tinatanggap kundi ang galing din sa kanya.
Ang pagibig ay hindi nang-aangkin at nagpapa-angkin ;
Sapagkat ang pagibig ay sasapat lamang sa pagibig.

Kapag ika'y umibig hindi mo dapat sabihing, “Ang Diyos ay nasa aking puso,” kung hindi, “Ako ay nasa puso ng Diyos.”
At 'wag **** isipin na kaya **** diktahan ang pagibig, 'pagkat ang pagibig, kung matantong ika'y karapat-dapat, ay ididikta sa iyo ang iyong landas.

Walang kagustuhan ang pagibig kung hindi tuparin ang kanyang sarili.
Ngunit kung ikaw ay umibig at mangailangan, maging ito ang iyong kailanganin:
Ang matunaw at umagos na parang batis na umaawit sa gabi.
Ang malaman ang sakit ng lubos na pagaaruga.
Ang masugatan sa iyong sariling kaalaman ng pagibig;
At masaktan ng kusang-loob at may ligaya.
Ang gumising sa bukang-liwayway ng may pusong kayang lumipad at magbigay pasasalamat sa isang bagong araw ng pagibig;
Ang magpahinga sa tanghali at magnilay sa sarap ng pagibig;
Ang umuwi sa hapon ng puno ng pasasalamat;
At matulog nang may panalangin para sa minamahal sa iyong puso at awit ng papuri sa iyong mga labi.

Then said Almitra, “Speak to us of Love.”

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, it directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

-----Kahlil Gibran

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                  The Dime-Store Philosophy of Kahlil Gibran

            How The Prophet Made Kahlil Gibran a Household Name in
            America ‹ Literary Hub (lithub.com)

The dime-store philosophy of Kahlil Gibran
                    (“Daddy, what’s a dime-store? And what’s a dime?”)
Reposing mostly undisturbed on brick-and-board shelves
The free-verse love-salad of Rod McKuen
And Lord of the Rings in 50-cent paperbacks

The Seekers played over and over on the phonograph
                     (“Daddy, what’s a phonograph? Is it something bad?”)
Have you heard The Mamas and the Papas’ latest single?
Peter, Paul & Mary in “stacks of wax”
Three-chord commandos in every coffee shop

Looking back - it wasn’t the greatest stuff
But for the time and place, it was good enough

"...Tell me, for Love's sake, what is that flame which burns in my heart and devours my strength and dissolves my will? What are those hidden soft and rough hands that grasp any soul; what is that wine mixed of bitter joy and sweet pain that suffuses my heart? What are those wings that hover over my pillow in the silence of Night, and keep me awake,watching no one knows what? What is the invisible thing I stare at, the incomprehensible thing that I ponder, the feeling that cannot be sensed? In my sights is a grief more beautiful than the echo of laughter and more rapturous than joy. Why do I surrender myself to an unknown power that slays me and revives me until Dawn rises and fills my chamber with its light?  Phantoms of wakefulness tremble between my seared eyelids, and shadows of dreams hover over my stony bed. What is that which we call Love? Tell me, what is that secret hidden within the ages yet which permeates all consciousness? What is this consciousness that is at once origin and result of everything? What is this vigil that fashions from Life and Death a dream, stranger than Life and deeper than Death? Tell me, friends, is there one among you who would not awake from the slumber of Life if love touched his soul with its fingertip?"

“When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
To love life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.”
~~Kahlil Gibran~~~!!!

All, <3<3 :):)!!!

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. Solitude is the ally of sorrow as well as a companion of spiritual exaltation.

~Welcome the Eighth of days!!
Whereby the snake of fear becomes our best of friend transmutable,
we come here now ready already in~~

"Joy"
~'Release all your fear
Heaven anticipates earth
Rolling in laughter'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/joy-18/

‎"Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.

The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.

Every wonderful sight will vanish,

every sweet word will fade,

But do not be disheartened,

The source they come from is eternal, growing,

Branching out, giving new life and new joy.

Why do you weep?

The source is within you

And this whole world is springing up from it".


-Rumi~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/rumi-weep-within-you-springing-up-from-it/

~'So It Is Sown!!!

From,
The Heart of the Infinite Deep Dark Sea of LOVE <3 <3 :) :)!!!
From where she and all is sprung and springs still and still;
Where if some is Good More Is Given!!!!

Welcome to the 8th of Days...
My Dearly departed and imperishable ones of such this very LOVE!!!'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/dearly-departed-1/

'Satyam Shivam Sundram Love Truly as Kindness in Action
as Beauty Be of Great Spirits's Ka- Alling Afu Ra's Childeren All
Must Be One Great Womb Where Our Love's Light Spirit Breathes
Within as without, above and below every rainbow I Am Another You';
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/in-lakech-ala-kin/

'I know of these flock's,
Of all the little birds and swarms,
Of bees, but whom did 'Tweet',

Which did 'Pollinate' Lovely Upon Such,
A Shimmering Glimmering Flowering Field,

I know not which one,
or if s/he was or is still sleeping!!!

**"Bliss's!!R'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/glimmer-the-field/

2012 Crossing Over, A New Beginning;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlfYHAV1i8w

'Nostradamus and sleeping prophet's One lost image of the singular Eye';
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/columbuss-crossing/

'Nostradamus too understood so much within,
With and about these could find no conclusion,
Of otherwise what was self evident,
Certain kinds of trends predictable,

But a blank of 'time/space',
That went blank thereabouts by,
Nine Times Nine the 81st page,
'The Lost Book of Nostradamus',
Where it was left open...

IS... Us...

Knock Knock!!!
BLISS

You can become

'One' with this then 'Great Architect',
See, Understand A Midwife Be Need,

Then Also Completely That None Can Be Left Out Indeed!!!'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/come-home-all-returning/

"KISS Kiss'S KissES"!!!

'Keep It Simple Silly

'Sweet

Especially Sweet!!!'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/kiss-kisss-kisses-1/

"HEART TIME"

'GOOD  Time
Bad Time

HEART

NO TIME

HEART

NO TIME
AT ALL'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/heart-time/

"Knock Knock BLISS!!!"

'If this BLISS comes knockin'
BLISS wants in, O' Be Lite Swift

Say the 'Door Is Already Open'
Bring Friends All The More!!!'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/knock-knock-bliss/

'Dancing In LOVE's
Joyly Fun Seeking
Thine Rightfully
Divined Kiss's
Thine Divine
All Willing
Alrighty
Got
\/
.
.
And
Out of
Ode Baseless
Fearful Trances
Hypnotic Spell's
Broken Freed
~Of IT ALL~
Abusively
Already
Leave's
If You
Let It
Be!!
\/
S
o'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/my-needs-deep-of-all/

~'We Shall Launch That
Greater Magical Mystery
'IT' of them ALL!!!'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/friend-of-heaven/

~'Know soonly
We shall find,

Truly Abundantly Food
For Our Bodies And Souls;

EIGHT DAYS A WEEK!!!'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/here-we-are-eight-days-a-week/

~'Your heart
torrential river
rushing reaching
touching changes all
at once all so between
it's every beating!!!'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/yours-and-mine/

~'As we breathe so too it follows like the Great Tantric Being...'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/faith-from-whence-they-came/

~'Solomon is here with me man
and we laughing really we can
understand the wooing of such
pains fading Heaven oh so hard
and at once too easily off!!'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/solomon-is-here/

~'Sure I can understand your heart
that just assume chop garlic really

and more than imagine
the quandaries

and about the fairly's of lonely's

wide by wakeful heart of eye
I can dream about the hopes, dares

and of your despairs of your great
yet uncertain missions too'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/garlic-really-or/

~'Still I say
Forgive me all!!!

Oh silly me,
for to be or not to be,
twas not question after all,'~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/forgive-me-all/

~'In any Darkness at all,

This or night, still you will find,
there is truly only More Love Willing,

To Come Into the Sphere' of Our Beings,'~~
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/this-eye-timothy/

"Mind Games" - John Lennon

We're playing those mind games together

Pushing the barriers, planting seeds
Playing the mind guerrilla

Chanting the mantra, peace on earth
We all been playing those mind games forever

Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil
Doing the mind guerrilla

Some call it magic, the search for the grail

Love is the answer and you know that for sure
Love is a flower, you got to let it, you got to let it grow

So keep on playing those mind games together

Faith in the future, outta the now

You just can't beat on those mind guerrillas
Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind

Yeah we're playing those mind games forever
Projecting our images in space and in time

Yes is the answer and you know that for sure
Yes is surrender, you got to let it, you got to let it go

So keep on playing those mind games together
Doing the ritual dance in the sun

Millions of mind guerrillas
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel

Keep on playing those mind games forever
Raising the spirit of peace and love

Love...
(I want you to make love, not war, I know you've heard it before)
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/imagine-this-two-by-john-lennon-1/

“When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
To love life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.”
~~Kahlil Gibran~~~!!!
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/kahlil-gibran-such-your-beauty-of-love/

'We gift each other,
I will run with what you impart,
to me and with what I see,
your most precious gifts,'
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/again-with-for-timothy-one-with-all/

'As much as this is simple truth,
I know those now whose body itself is one with this inner spirit,
and runs in defiance of all other illusion!!!'

"Know then that the body is merely a garment
Go seek the wearer , not the cloak."

~ Rumi
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/in-defiance-of-all-other-illusion/

I am a tree, grown in the shade, and today I stretched my branches to tremble for a while in the daylight. I came here to tell you good-bye, my beloved, and it is my hope that our farewell will be as great and awful like our love. Let our farewell be like fire that bends the gold and makes it more resplendent.
Selma did not allow me to speak or protest, but she looked at me, her eyes glittering, her face retaining its dignity, seeming like an angel worthy of silence and respect. Then she flung herself upon me, something which she had never done before, and put her smooth arms around me and printed a long, deep, fiery kiss on my lips

I was,
And I am.  
So shall I be to the end of time,
For I am without end.

  I have cleft the vast spaces of the infinite, and
taken flight in the world of fantasy, and drawn nigh
to the circle of light on high.
  Yet behold me a captive of matter.
   I have hearkened to the teachings of Confucius,
and listened to the wisdom of Brahma, and sat be-
side the Buddha beneath the tree of knowledge.
   Behold me now contending with ignorance and
unbelieving.
   I was upon Sinai when the Lord showed Himself
to Moses.  By the Jordan I beheld the Nazarene's
miracles.  In Medina I heard the words of the Apostle
of Arabia.
   Behold me now a prisoner of doubt.
   I have seen Babylon's strength and Egypt's glory
and the greatness of Greece.  My eyes cease not
upon the smallness and poverty of their works.
   I have sat with the witch of Endor and the priests
of Assyria and the prophets of Palestine, and I cease
not to chant the truth.
   I have learned the wisdom that descended on India,
and gained mastery over poetry that welled
from the Arabian's heart, and hearkened to the music
of people from the west.
   Yet am I blind and see not; my ears are stopped
and I do not hear.
   I have borne the harshness of unsatiable con-
querors, and felt the oppression of tyrants and the
******* of the powerful.
   Yet am I strong to do battle with the days.
   All this have I heard and seen, and I am yet a
child.  In truth shall I hear and see the deeds of
youth, and grow old and attain perfection and
return to God.

I was,
And I am
So shall I be to the end of time,
For I am without end.