What If
What if I had taken that chance
What if I had returned that glance
What if I had accepted his hand
What if I had not been so offhand
What if I had walked with him a few steps
What if I had not faltered at the doorstep
What if my upbringing had not shackled
What if I had not my first love bottled
What if my love had not been driven away
What if I had been stronger, not swayed
What if we had given our budding love a chance
What if love could’ve been a joyous happenstance
In the twilight years of my life, regrets I have but few
Hesitant step, taken, would not have let me now, stew
In so many what ifs and what could’ve should’ve beens
There is many a slip betwixt the cup and lip not foreseen
Life and true love had come knocking at my door but once
Giving them a chance would have made me delirious once
In the twilight years I wonder what if………..
The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
Maulana Jalalu’ddin Rumi
Men always want to be a woman’s first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a man’s last romance.
Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author, Wit
When first we met we did not guess That Love would prove so hard a master.
Robert Bridges English, Poet Quotes
Man’s love is of man’s life a part; it is a woman’s whole existence. In her first passion,
a woman loves her lover, in all the others all she loves is love.
Lord Byron British, Poet Quotes
First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity: no really self-respecting woman would take advantage of it.
George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950, Irish-born British Dramatist
We always believe our first love is our last, and our last love our first.
George John Whyte-Melville
Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists…. When we are parted, we each feel the lack
of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost.
That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence.
Erich Fromm
Originally Published: August 30, 2008
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The Heirloom
Property went equally to siblings four
Except one heirloom they all craved for
A beautiful piece of their family history
Square settee, gold inlaid with a story
Folklore had it, this was passed on
Generation to generation, from eons
The brother who was settled in Zanzibar
Relinquished his share for a tiny gold bar
Other two brothers who lived in the big city
Let go also for expensive tokens, quite glitzy
Youngest was the sister who lived in London
This heirloom had been her cherished mission
Happily dispatching this precious load with care
She quickly said goodbyes and paid her airfare
Settee was reverently placed in her London den
And hours were spent reliving years till age ten
Mother had lovingly served all four mouths, goodies
Seated on this settee constantly filling hungry bellies
Fairytales and proverbs that accompanied her food
Were pure common sense instilled and thus imbued
She decided to repair and shine the lovely heirloom
Called a known carpenter for a shine and a bloom
A coat of varnish was given under her ever watchful glance
Lo and behold a secret drawer was found, what romance!!!
Excitedly it was pried open and contents removed carefully
A tiny dairy, a silver canister and a necklace, very gingerly
Dairy enumerated her granny’s peccadilloes, document family lineage
The necklace had adorned this rebel great grandmother of regal visage
She put the necklace around her neck but the clasp was broken
She surmised perhaps it was squirreled away from a spoilt scion
In seventh heaven she photographed and imaged her precious finds
Quickly sending data in attached files to relevant expert historians
With bated breath she scanned for replies as her curiosity steadily rose
Smelling an exciting discovery given their blue bloodlines she supposed
Bingo! on that fateful Monday morning over a muffin and a coffee
She read they’d descended from of a Mighty King with no boundary
Their genes were a pure bloodline and the document was a national treasure
She was hard put to relinquish as it authenticated and reinforced her measure
She informed her siblings of this exciting discovery and information
They were glad yet could not appreciate its value, being ultra modern!!!
No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.
Theodore Bikel
Austrian, Actor Quotes
As you age naturally, your family shows more and more on your face. If you deny that, you deny your heritage.
Frances Conroy
American, Actress Quotes
Heredity is a strong factor, even in architecture. Necessity first mothered invention.
Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.
E(lwyn) B(rooks) White
1899-1985, American Author, Editor
Originally Published: August 28, 2008
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Narcissism
His remark was on target, a precise incision
Piercing her soft tender heart, a gory vision
Where had their infinite mutual love slunk
Reservoirs of their affection dried, sunk?
Their romance was a much touted affair
People spoke about it then, everywhere
The marriage and long guest list of VIPs
Ballroom reception and honeymoon trips
All were the talk of the town, a grand event
A frantic planning with lots of money spent
Soon all excitement subsided, routine crept in
An uneventful life with work and play therein
Until one fine day, they were visited by the stork
All concerned toasted and sang, popping the cork
The twins made a rocking entry rocking her boat
Attention was diverted from him, as was her wont
He resented time spent with babies and his resultant neglect
She was hard put to convince him babies needed her to protect
He was an only, rich child conditioned to be always number one
Thus he forgot paternal duties, blinded by selfish needs, rotten
Thwarted, he began to dislike his baby sons much to her chagrin
As mom, she was helpless, as lover she cringed at this, life’s tailspin
Blinded by his own neglect and imaginary slights he began to stay out
Her busy day flew in maternal duties and nights became total blackout
Finally matters came to a head, he found love and attention in other arms
She was heartbroken, then she The MOM took up cudgels like firearms
She returned home to her old nest with twins sleeping on her loving breast
Grandparents, friends rallied around like a fort, assured she will top this test
Indomitable fighting spirit made her shine as mom, daughter and entrepreneur
Business thrived as the twins survived immersed in love, soon becoming mature
Role reversal took place and soon reins changed hands with change of guard
Twins were both level headed knowing well what real life and living were about
The old curmudgeon meanwhile was left alone as fair weather friends flew away
Full of shame he recalled now forgotten mistreated family in past he did betray
Repentance ate like a canker into his grieving soul as he lay dying, calling her name
His lament penetrated her soul, with twins she reached his bedside without any blame
Father n sons bid farewell, only one solitary paternal blessing worth a lifetime
She forgave all his trespasses as experience had taught her to live a life sublime
His final journey began where he was again the CYNOSURE of all weeping eyes
His departing soul thus rejoiced as this came to pass finally at his own demise!!!
A little neglect may breed great mischief:..for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1758
Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either. – Erich Fromm American, Psychologist Quotes
Men are what their mother’s made them. Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 1860
As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision. – Helen Keller American, Author Quotes
Pity the selfishness of lovers: it is brief, a forlorn hope; it is impossible.
Elizabeth Bowen Irish, Novelist Quotes
Maternity is on the face of it an unsociable experience. The selfishness that a woman has learned to stifle or to dissemble where she alone is concerned, blooms freely and unashamed on behalf of her offspring. – Emily James Putnam
Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, pawned a part of their narcissism. – Sigmund Freud Austrian, Psychologist
Originally Published: August 27, 2008
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Connectivity
Positive and negative wires
Currents of coursing desires
Gained momentum
Upon connectivity
His eyes brimming mischief
Hers inviting just enough
Instant communication
Upon connectivity
His body language telling
Hers preening veering
Sunflowers seeking sun
Upon connectivity
His blood running marathons
Hers promising fulfilling dawns
A gazebo of four arms
Upon connectivity
Dreamy mutual glazed glances
Requiting oft dreamed splurges
Readily abandoning to urges
Upon connectivity
A handsome dude approaches
A lovely damsel also traipses
She grabs him, he her
Upon perfect connectivity
Sorry, cross connections
Unfulfilled gratifications
Please stand by
For
Connectivity
Indefinitely???
Send home my long-strayed eyes to me,
Which (Oh) too long have dwelt on thee.- John Donne, “The Message,” 1595
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired- Robert Frost, in coversation
May your every wish be granted- ancient Chinese curse
Love, all alike, no seasons knows, nor clime
Nor hours, days, months, which are the range of time.
- John Donne, The Sun Rising,1595
Often we are firm from weakness, and audacious from timidity.
-La Rochefoucauld, Maxims 1665
Biological weakness is the condition of human culture.
Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 941
How few are our real wants! And how easy it is to satisfy them!
Our imaginary ones are boundless and insatiable.
Julius Charles Hare & Augustus William Hare, Guesses At Truth, 1827
Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied
Must admit those of fancy.- Samuel Johnson, Rasselas, 1759
We do not succeed in changing things according to our desires, but gradually our desire changes.
– Proust, Albertine disparue, 1925
I look at what I have and think myself unhappy; others look at what I have and
Think me happy.- Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest, 1886.
Originally Published: August 26, 2008
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Daybreak
Night canvas folds itself curling within
Stars dim turning their switches off therein
Fingers of darkness too lighten insipidly fading away
Moon retreats to sleep soundly giving in to another day
Streetlamps, lonely sentinels of concrete jungles
Turn off one by one in precision without rumbles
Owls and bats now silently go to rest as the night
Creeps away gently heralding the onset of daylight
Birds go about their business all chirruping in unison
Street traffic gains momentum as sounds of life beckon
The horizon as always defines a distinctively alluring sky
Where crisscross streaks of orange gold fingers playfully ply
The golden round disc of the sun makes a showing once again
Spilling shimmering orange golden reflections in flowing ocean
The bright blue sky appears lively with planes and flocking birds
All intent on reaching somewhere before turning back homewards
Church bells and temple and mosques all open their welcoming doors
Inviting all the laity, saints and sinners as them the god equally adores
Springy step and day’s challenges to be met head on, resolves we make
It is after all the dawning of another exciting new challenging daybreak
A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something in nature seems to reveal all consciousness, cannot be explained at noon. Yet it is part of the day’s unity.
Charles Ives American, Composer Quotes
If your efforts are sometimes greeted with indifference, don’t lose heart. The sun puts on a wonderful show at daybreak, yet most of the people in the audience go on sleeping.
Ada Teixeira
It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.–Aristotle BC 384-322, Greek Philosopher
one of my favorite songs by Cat Stevens
(his voice and music is awesome)
Morning Has Broken- by Cat Stevens
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day
Originally Published: August 26, 2008
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