author unknown

Its not so much what you say
as the manner in which you say it
It’s not so much the language you use
as the tone in which you convey it.
Come here I sharply said, and the child cowered and wept.
Come here i said he looked and smiled and strait to my lap he crept.
Words may be mild and fair
but the tone may pierce like a dart

words may be soft as the summer air
but the tone may break my heart.
For words come from the mind
grow by study and art
but tone leaps from the inner self
revealing the state of the heart.
Whether you know it or not
whether you mean or care,
gentleness kindness love and hate
envy anger are there.
Then, would you quarrels avoid
and peace and love rejoice
keep anger not only out of your words
Keep them out of your voice.

I think you told me
you are like
the solar system
cold on the outside,
a blazing interior.
You don’t say there is
no love for the restless
and unsettled.
You can give up
and within the cold
cup of tea, that’s left,
carry every twirl
from that
defeat with
never a sigh of
debt.
And I may break
a glass but instead
of being mad,
you bend
to drink from a
shallow creek,
more exotic than ever.
It is the surprise each
day
that makes me say
I want love
more than
wanting tomorrow.

RB 12 10 2019
Verge of a dream

After I have a drink
with you, I’ll make up my
mind whether or not
your eyes are blue. Ill
make up my mind about
you. After I get to know
though, it won’t be
someone else to tell
me what might be true, I’ll
make up my mind about you.
You can narrow down your
eye and look at me askance,
Is it you and is it me and will
this be a burn, and not be, romance.
I’ll take the chance and make
up my mind about you.

RLB 11-04-2019

Never give yourself away

As you enter the room

Don’t be seen

Searching in the suitcase

They want lunchtime chatter

Relying on their conventions

Not reading the currents

You are the one with

A past. I will wait

And hope

That the buffeting

And forgetting will

End, sparked by

A kind of desire

Satisfied by glimpse

Of you

That will leave a

Wake of despair

RLB, 9/8/2019

Thinking one knows how to do what one knows one doesn’t know enough to do. But other interpretations can be found — e.g. the compounding of confusion when one tells a lie comes to mind.

Good! The sorcerer, my old master
left me here alone today!
Now his spirits, for a change,
my own wishes shall obey!
Having memorized
what to say and do,
with my powers of will I can
do some witching, too!

Go, I say,
Go on your way,
do not tarry,
water carry,
let it flow abundantly,
and prepare a bath for me!

Come on now, old broom, get dressed,
these old rags will do just fine!
You’re a slave in any case,
and today you will be mine!
May you have two legs,
and a head on top,
take the bucket, quick
hurry, do not stop!

Go, I say,
Go on your way,
do not tarry,
water carry,
let it flow abundantly,
and prepare a bath for me!

Look, how to the bank he’s running!
and now he has reached the river,
he returns, as quickly as lightening,
once water to deliver,
Look! The tub already
is almost filled up!
And how he’s filling
Every bowl and cup!

Stop! Stand still!
Heed my will!
I’ve enough
of the stuff!
I’ve forgotten – woe is me!
what the magic word may be.

Oh, the word to change him back
into what he was before!
Oh, he runs, and keeps on going!
Wish you’d be a broom once more!
He keeps bringing water
quickly as can be,
and a hundred rivers
he pours down on me!

No, no longer
can I let him,
I must get him
wth some trick!
I’m beginning to feel sick.
What a look! – and what a face!

O, you ugly child of Hades!
The entire house will drown!
Everything I look, I see
water, water, running down.
Be you damned, old broom,
why won’t you obey?
Be a stick once more,
please, I beg you, stay!

Is the end
not in sight?
I will grab you,
hold you tight,
with my axe I’ll split the brittle
old wood smartly down the middle.

Here he comes again with water!
Now I’ll throw myself upon you,
and the sharpness of my axe
I will test, o spirit, on you.
Well, a perfect hit!
See how he is split!
Now there’s hope form me,
and I can breathe free!

Woe is me! Both pieces
come to life anew,
now, to do my bidding
I have servants two!
Help me, o great powers!
Please, I’m begging you!

And they’re running!
Wet and wetter
get the stairs, the rooms, the hall!
What a deluge! What a flood!
Lord and master, hear my call!
Ah, here comes the master!
I have need of Thee!
from the spirits that I called
Sir, deliver me!

“Back now, broom,
into the closet!
Be thou as thou
wert before!
Until I, the real master
call thee forth to serve once more!”

Tags: Der Zauberlehrling, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poetry, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Charlie Chaplin. It’s believed he wrote the poem below at age 70.

As I began to love myself
I found that anguish and emotional suffering
are only warning signs that I was living
against my own truth.
Today, I know, this is Authenticity.

As I began to love myself
I understood how much it can offend somebody
if I try to force my desires on this person,
even though I knew the time was not right
and the person was not ready for it,
and even though this person was me.
Today I call this Respect.

As I began to love myself
I stopped craving for a different life,
and I could see that everything
that surrounded me
was inviting me to grow.
Today I call this Maturity.

As I began to love myself
I understood that at any circumstance,
I am in the right place at the right time,
and everything happens at the exactly right moment.
So I could be calm.
Today I call this Self-Confidence.

As I began to love myself
I quit stealing my own time,
and I stopped designing huge projects
for the future.
Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness,
things I love to do and that make my heart cheer,
and I do them in my own way
and in my own rhythm.
Today I call this Simplicity.

As I began to love myself
I freed myself of anything
that is no good for my health –
food, people, things, situations,
and everything that drew me down
and away from myself.
At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.
Today I know it is Love of Oneself.

As I began to love myself
I quit trying to always be right,
and ever since
I was wrong less of the time.
Today I discovered that is Modesty.

As I began to love myself
I refused to go on living in the past
and worrying about the future.
Now, I only live for the moment,
where everything is happening.
Today I live each day,
day by day,
and I call it Fulfillment.

As I began to love myself
I recognized
that my mind can disturb me
and it can make me sick.
But as I connected it to my heart,
my mind became a valuable ally.
Today I call this connection Wisdom of the Heart.

We no longer need to fear arguments,
confrontations or any kind of problems
with ourselves or others.
Even stars collide,
and out of their crashing, new worlds are born.
Today I know: This is Life!