Friday, January 21, 2022

Unzeizable












In every boat, there's a forest sleeping
In every high tide, there's a moon smiling
In every drop of rain, there's a cloud traveling
In every grain of sand, there's a shore resting
In every scar, there's a knife sparkling
In every fruit, there's a tree singing
In every cat, there's a panther roaring
In every window, there's a dream calling
In every thirst, there's a fountain blooming
In every hand, there's a caress waiting
In every tunnel, there's a promise walking
In every silence, there's a word hiding
In every eye, there's a fire burning
In every heart, there's another heart beating


...And the world
(and you in it)
is an infinite matryoshka doll:
No beginning, no end.
What you'll find will forever slip away from your fingers,
And every morning
there's a new you
beginning.


Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. -Emily Bronte-

Autumn Leaves - Eva Cassidy

Bou Elias ..

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. » 
- Emily Bronte - 

The falling leaves drift by my window
The falling leaves of red and gold
I see your lips the summer kisses
The sunburned hands I used to hold

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

***


Sunday, January 9, 2022

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux - Louis Aragon






Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux 
- Louis Aragon -


Rien n'est jamais acquis à l'homme. Ni sa force
Ni sa faiblesse ni son cœur. Et quand il croit
Ouvrir ses bras son ombre est celle d'une croix
Et quand il croit serrer son bonheur il le broie
Sa vie est un étrange et douloureux divorce
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Sa vie elle ressemble à ces soldats sans armes
Qu'on avait habillés pour un autre destin
A quoi peut leur servir de ce lever matin
Eux qu'on retrouve au soir désarmés incertains
Dites ces mots ma vie et retenez vos larmes
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Mon bel amour mon cher amour ma déchirure
Je te porte dans moi comme un oiseau blessé
Et ceux-là sans savoir nous regardent passer
Répétant après moi les mots que j'ai tressés
Et qui pour tes grands yeux tout aussitôt moururent
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Le temps d'apprendre à vivre il est déjà trop tard
Que pleurent dans la nuit nos cœurs à l'unisson
Ce qu'il faut de malheur pour la moindre chanson
Ce qu'il faut de regrets pour payer un frisson
Ce qu'il faut de sanglots pour un air de guitare
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Il n'y a pas d'amour qui ne soit à douleur
Il n'y a pas d'amour dont on ne soit meurtri
Il n'y a pas d'amour dont on ne soit flétri
Et pas plus que de toi l'amour de la patrie
Il n'y a pas d'amour qui ne vive de pleurs
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Mais c'est notre amour à tous deux


Saturday, January 1, 2022

Your Home / My Thief- Rumi-


Your Home ..

I asked, "Where is your home, beautiful moon?"
She said, "In the wreck of your drunken heart.
I am the sun shining into your ruin.
Long may you call this wild wasteland your home."
*
My Thief ..

With a smile biting those two ruby lips,
How beautifully, idol, you've come to life!
Stealing my heart that day was not enough;
Today you're back, intent upon my life.


-Rumi-



Friday, December 31, 2021

If , Rudyard Kipling




If .....

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; 


If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools; 


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" 


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

I Measure Every Grief I Meet: Emily Dickinson on Love and Loss

 


I Measure Every Grief I Meet: 
Emily Dickinson on Love and Loss


"To note the fashions — of the Cross —
And how they’re mostly worn —
Still fascinated to presume
That Some — are like My Own —"

I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, Eyes —
I wonder if It weighs like Mine —
Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if They bore it long —
Or did it just begin —
I could not tell the Date of Mine —
It feels so old a pain —

I wonder if it hurts to live —
And if They have to try —
And whether — could They choose between —
It would not be — to die —

I note that Some — gone patient long —
At length, renew their smile —
An imitation of a Light
That has so little Oil —

I wonder if when Years have piled —
Some Thousands — on the Harm —
That hurt them early — such a lapse
Could give them any Balm —

Or would they go on aching still
Through Centuries of Nerve —
Enlightened to a larger Pain –
In Contrast with the Love —

The Grieved — are many — I am told —
There is the various Cause —
Death — is but one — and comes but once —
And only nails the eyes —

There’s Grief of Want — and Grief of Cold —
A sort they call “Despair” —
There’s Banishment from native Eyes —
In sight of Native Air —

And though I may not guess the kind —
Correctly — yet to me
A piercing Comfort it affords
In passing Calvary —

To note the fashions — of the Cross —
And how they’re mostly worn —
Still fascinated to presume
That Some — are like My Own —

*******




Wednesday, December 29, 2021

The Tear - Lord Byron -


The Tear
- Lord Byron -

When Friendship or Love our sympathies move, 
When Truth, in a glance, should appear, 
The lips may beguile with a dimple or smile, 
But the test of affection's a Tear: 

Too oft is a smile but the hypocrite's wile, 
To mask detestation, or fear; 
Give me the soft sigh, whilst the soultelling eye 
Is dimm'd, for a time, with a Tear: 

Mild Charity's glow, to us mortals below, 
Shows the soul from barbarity clear; 
Compassion will melt, where this virtue is felt, 
And its dew is diffused in a Tear: 

The man, doom'd to sail with the blast of the gale, 
Through billows Atlantic to steer, 
As he bends o'er the wave which may soon be his grave, 
The green sparkles bright with a Tear; 

The Soldier braves death for a fanciful wreath 
In Glory's romantic career; 
But he raises the foe when in battle laid low, 
And bathes every wound with a Tear. 

If, with high-bounding pride he return to his bride! 
Renouncing the gore-crimson'd spear; 
All his toils are repaid when, embracing the maid, 
From her eyelid he kisses the Tear. 

Sweet scene of my youth! seat of Friendship and Truth, 
Where Love chas'd each fast-fleeting year 
Loth to leave thee, I mourn'd, for a last look I turn'd, 
But thy spire was scarce seen through a Tear: 

Though my vows I can pour, to my Mary no more, 
My Mary, to Love once so dear, 
In the shade of her bow'r I remember the hour, 
She rewarded those vows with a Tear. 

By another possest, may she live ever blest! 
Her name still my heart must revere: 
With a sigh I resign what I once thought was mine, 
And forgive her deceit with a Tear. 

Ye friends of my heart, ere from you I depart, 
This hope to my breast is most near: 
If again we shall meet in this rural retreat, 
May we meet, as we part, with a Tear. 

When my soul wings her flight to the regions of night, 
And my corse shall recline on its bier; 
As ye pass by the tomb where my ashes consume, 
Oh! moisten their dust with a Tear. 

May no marble bestow the splendour of woe 
Which the children of vanity rear; 
No fiction of fame shall blazon my name. 
All I ask – all I wish – is a Tear.


Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Here's to those who wish us well - Elaine -




Here's to those who wish us well, 
and those who don't can go to hell.
- Elaine Marie Benes -





Sunday, July 18, 2021

Quatrains (11) ,I'll go a 100 steps beyond reason - Rumi-



Quatrains (11), I'll go a 100 steps beyond reason 

- Rumi-

Let your water flow, and you nurture the young tree;
Turn your back, and you uproot me.
I was dust beneath thorns' feet, I was dry.
You have raised me, Moon: I am one with the sky.
*

I said I would take my heart back from you, but I can't,
Or that I would live on without this pain, but I can't.
I said I would banish desire for you, but I can't.
I swear to you, as I am a man, I can't.
*
A thousand brilliant beauties filled the garden;
There were violets and musk-scented roses.
The stream was not those drops that trickled slow,
A mere excuse: He was himself the flow.
*
"I gave you my heart and my faith," I said,
"I showered on you everything I had."
"You?" she said, "Who cares what you do or not? 
I shook you up, and this is what I got." 
*
Delicate moon, who ripens the harvest of life,
At my little window you show your face.
My garden of life, bright light of my eyes,
When will I hold your light in my embrace?
*
I'll go a hundred steps beyond reason,
Free from the existence of good and evil.
You are so good that I'm beyond the veil.
Let the clueless know: I will love myself.
*
The stock of a man's wisdom is madness:
It's a wise man who loves till he's insane.
Who knows his own heart well on the road of pain
Is to himself a thousand ways a stranger.
*
My heart wanted only a kiss from you; 
The price you asked for that kiss was my soul.
Heart jumped in the deep and flowed alongside soul,
Advising, 'Close the deal. The price is cheap.'
*
I'm sad that as she binds me in this pain,
My love does not intend my heart to gain 
Its happiness. When she sees my distress 
She laughs in secret at this sweet, sweet jest.
*
I'll swallow the pain that bleeds from your love's wound.
I'll bear your cruelty until judgment day.
That day, when truth lies bare, you'll beg for life
And I will stare at your beloved face.
***

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

A Master's Hat, My Father's Crown...



Papa
- Claude Barzotti -

On parle souvent des mamas
On oublie parfois les papas
Venus du fond de l'Italie
De Pescara, de Napoli
Ils étaient bien souvent maçons
Devenus des mineurs de fond
Ils mettaient du coeur à l'ouvrage
Tout au bout de ce long voyage
On a grandi avec l'amour
Y avait jamais de mauvais jours
Les fins de mois étaient fragiles
Et c'était parfois difficile
Mais quand on a au fond du coeur
Des jardins parfumés de fleurs
Ils nous apportaient le soleil
Un nouveau pays de merveilles

Refrain :
Papa, Papa, Papa
Si tu n'avais pas été là
Dis-moi qu'aurais-je fait sans toi ?
Papa, Papa
Si tu n'avais pas été là
Qu'aurais-je fais de mes dix doigts ?

Les cheveux noirs devenus blancs
Avec la pluie, avec le temps
Ils n'ont pas perdu leur accent
Et leurs mains parlent encore vraiment
Elle est arrivée enfin l'heure
De n' plus se fatiguer le coeur
De se reposer en famille
Les papas ont les yeux qui brillent…
On n'a pas tous la même histoire
Non, mais ça y ressemble un peu
Qui n'a pas eu envie un soir
De dire "Papa, je suis heureux"
Je suis heureux, je te le dois
Je suis ici, c'est grâce à toi
J' trouve pas les mots pour dire merci
A toi et à Maman aussi…

Retour au refrain (1 fois)
Toi tu m'as donné la musique
Le coeur et l'âme romantique
Avec ces instants si magiques
De tes souvenirs nostalgiques
Papa, Papa, Papa
Et si un jour tu n'es plus là…
Comment vais-je vivre sans toi


Sunday, May 2, 2021

Baudelaire -Recueillement - Les Fleurs du Mal


Recueillement
- Charles Baudelaire -


Sois sage, ô ma Douleur, et tiens-toi plus tranquille.
Tu réclamais le Soir ; il descend ; le voici :
Une atmosphère obscure enveloppe la ville,
Aux uns portant la paix, aux autres le souci.

Pendant que des mortels la multitude vile,
Sous le fouet du Plaisir, ce bourreau sans merci,
Va cueillir des remords dans la fête servile,
Ma douleur, donne-moi la main ; viens par ici,

Loin d'eux. Vois se pencher les défuntes Années,
Sur les balcons du ciel, en robes surannées ;
Surgir du fond des eaux le Regret souriant ;

Le Soleil moribond s'endormir sous une arche,
Et, comme un long linceul traînant à l'Orient,
Entends, ma chère, entends la douce Nuit qui marche.




Friday, February 5, 2021

Guest House - Rumi -

Guest House 
- Rumi -

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

***

Sunday, November 15, 2020

حقائب الدموع والبكاء - When the Rain Comes - Nizar Kabbani




حقائب الدموع والبكاء


إذا أتى الشتاء..
وحركت رياحه ستائري
أحس يا صديقتي
بحاجة إلى البكاء
على ذراعيك..
على دفاتري..

يبتدئ النزيف في قلبي .. وفي أناملي.
كأنما الأمطار في السماء
تهطل يا صديقتي في داخلي..
عندئذ .. يغمرني
شوق طفولي إلى البكاء ..
على حرير شعرك الطويل كالسنابل..
كمركب أرهقه العياء
كطائر مهاجر..
يبحث عن نافذة تضاء
يبحث عن سقف له ..
في عتمة الجدائل ..
*
إذا أتى الشتاء..
يأتي إلى الحزن من مغارة المساء
يأتي كطفل شاحب غريب
مبلل الخدين والرداء..
وأفتح الباب لهذا الزائر الحبيب
أمنحه السرير .. والغطاء
أمنحه .. جميع ما يشاء
*
من أين جاء الحزن يا صديقتي ؟
وكيف جاء؟
يحمل لي في يده..
زنابقا رائعة الشحوب
يحمل لي ..
حقائب الدموع والبكاء..


- نزار قباني

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Let me not pray - Tagore -

 


Let me not pray

- Tagore -


Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield
but to my own strength.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.

Grant that I may not be a coward,
feeling your mercy in my success alone;

But let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.