BEAUTIFUL POETRY MAKES LIFE MORE BEAUTIFUL NOW

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

 

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-- Wendell Berry

WHEN THE MIND IS AT PEACE

When the mind is at peace,

the world too is at peace.

Nothing real, nothing absent.

Not holding on to reality,

not getting stuck in the void,

you are neither holy nor wise, just

an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.

-- P’ang Yun (Layman P’ang)

-- English version by Stephen Mitchell

 

DANCE

Open your heart to happiness

Let every pore absorb light

Swim in the joy of the here and now

And cast off the darkness of night

Walk in the summer of sunshine

Fly in the blueness of sky

Know possibilities are boundless

Understand that nothing can die

 

Step from the shadows of torment

Sing 'til your throat gets too sore

Smile for as long as the day is

And laugh just a little bit more

Breathe slowly and deeply and listen

Give all your ideas a chance

Let the sun beat down on your goodness

And kick off your shoes and dance

-- Paul Hayward

Read more about Beautiful Poetry in 10 Most Beautiful New Poetry Books Now, The Beautiful Nature of Poetry Now, Poetry as Food For Love & Love for Food is Beautiful Now, The Beautiful Art of Poetry Now andBeautiful Poems About Beautiful Places Now.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Siyamalan. Milkyway at Bethells Beach.
2. Image: by Indigo Skies Photography. Dead Tree.
3. Image: by Hefin Owen. Snowdonia Sunrise.
4. Image: by Pilar Castro. Strength.
5. Image: by Ingrid Bugge. Courtesy of The Day. The Lady of the Camellias performed by Lena-Maria Gruber of The Royal Danish Ballet.
6. Image: by sian monument. Dulas.
7. Image: by BN App - Download now!
8. Image: by Massmo Relsig. Walk on Water.