Miss Patsy Cline> https://archive.org/details/patsy-cline-greatest-hist-full-album-2023-best-song-of-patsy-cline

jī DhūñDtā hai phir vahī fursat ki raat din
baiThe raheñ tasavvur-e-jānāñ kiye hue
— Mirza Ghalib

Again this heart seeks those days of leisure as of yore
Sitting just enmeshed in thoughts of my paramour

The Threshing Floor

With the monsoon downgraded to a simple squall,
Forgotten for now are the trials heretofore.
The sheaves are being gathered and stacked against the wall,
Admired by the old men down by the threshing floor.

The work it is done by folk stout and thick-skinned,
Replenishing old stocks with abundance in store;
The sunlit chaff swirls in the winnowing wind,
As the precious grain spills all o’er the threshing floor!

The families they share their joys and their fears,
As the children they play ‘neath the old sycamore.
Their numbers decreasing as old friends disappear,
Each year a few less around the threshing floor.

The usurer, ubiquitous as an old gadfly,
Walks his well-trodden path from door to door.
And the reaper he casts a cold, knowing eye,
As the crowd slowly thins about the threshing floor…

But the sheaves they’ll continue to be stacked on the walls,
To be compared by the old folk to the “days of yore”.
And the chaff will continue to swirl and to fall…
Till the last ghost departs the old threshing floor!

Who Will Soothe Your Fears?

Who will listen to me,
Who will I depend upon;
No longer bound and tethered,
Now that you are gone?

Who will share my memories,
Of old familiar ways;
When we were still together,
In sweeter, kinder days?

Sixty years we made our bed,
Sixty years we built our home.
Till one day you disappeared,
And left me here all alone!

Who will hear this fool in tears,
Now I must neglect you;
Who will soothe your fears,
Without me there to protect you?

I don’t know which one I love more!

It’s remarkable how with the passage of time and events, we are furnished with a deeper understanding of something we could only previously grasp in part. In this spirit, therefore, I offer these further instalments in these ‘works in progress’, (which in my estimation, are always vastly improved and always serve to excite, at least for myself, as the author). We must keep in mind, of course – as Da Vinči noted; “No artwork is ever completed, only abandoned”,  and so, not to preclude further edits somewhere down the track. This is dedicated to the Friend, as Rumi put it, or the Master Principle, an aspect of Divine Spirit and God’s gift to Soul, available in some way, shape or form, to all sentient beings.

you are the good
that dwells within the heart
of all mortal creatures

A One Such As You

Of all the people I’ve ever met,
Of those I remember and those I forget,
Of all the friends and companions true;
I’ve never met a one such as you!

Of all the allies I’ve ever had,
Of riddles and challenges armour clad,
Of Gordian Knots I’ve had to slice through,
I’ve never had an ally such as you!

Of all the multitudes of loves,
Of burning angels and mourning doves,
Of those that stayed and those that flew,
I’ve never loved a one such as you!

Of all the voices I’ve ever heard,
Of ancient bards and throats of birds,
Of the eagle’s cry and the lion’s roar;
I thrill to none as I thrill to yours!

Of all the dreams I’ve ever dreamed,
Of all the wild and crazy schemes,
I never dared to dream it’s true,
I’d ever find a one such as you!

Very nice, Siljan, thanks.

Anytime Dimitar. Thank you for all your nice poetry and music as well.

Blessings

Kahlil Gibran on Joy & Sorrow
from “The Prophet”

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well
from which your laughter rises
was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow
carves into your being,
the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine
the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit,
the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous,
look deep into your heart
and you shall find it is only that
which has given you sorrow
that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful
look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth
you are weeping for that
which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater thar sorrow,”
and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits,
alone with you at your board,
remember that the other
is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales
between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty
are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you
to weigh his gold and his silver,
needs must your joy or
your sorrow rise or fall.

Sudhi, here is one for you;

Kris Kristofferson passed on.

Story:  Long time ago, so I am not breaking confidences.  I met Rita Coolidge who I thought was the making of the man.  I met her in an acupuncture office.  So, I was in there one day, cannot remember for what, when Rita Coolidge came in and we were introduced.  She was in a terrible state and only wanted to actually sit down and have someone listen to her.  The acupuncturist and I did the honors.  She had a lovely aura and her personhood felt good.  I felt really sorry for her as the stories poured out and she had the scars to show from her hell on wheels life with Kristofferson.

Best I can hope for him, is that someone helps him through the night.

Thanks for sharing. You never know what goes on behind closed doors…

Kristofferson’s passing only leaves Wille left from this super group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMdeg-WKt1U

A bit of fun…

These Old Shoes

These old shoes are ragged and worn,
There ain’t no way I’m saying goodbye;
My grateful feet for years they’ve adorned,
When the going gets tough we always scrape by!

Well, the cobbler he laughs with a shake of his head,
The look in his eye somewhat forlorn;
“How does this leather of just a few shreds,
Keep out the stones and the brambles and thorns?”

With the glue barely dry and that final patch on,
He tries to sell me a spanking new pair;
But these are my shoes, why can’t he catch on,
They’re never too tight and they let in the air!

Now there’s planes and there’s trains and there’s automobiles,
To carry folk over the oceans and mounts;
But me and my shoes, we’re head over heels,
In love with our freedom and that’s all that counts!

I once had a lass who cared too much,
She said we would always be good friends;
But she kept me enclosed in her four-by-four hutch,
Till the day when I said “Well, all good things end!”

Back on the road, it’s a brand new tread,
The miles they pass as the way winds and bends;
Around treacherous ledges, through dry river beds,
I’ll follow that road till it finally ends!

And when the time comes for that extra long snooze,
You’ll think that I’m dead and you may shed a tear;
But we’ve made plans, me and my shoes,
And we’re quite looking forward to that brand new frontier!

Time tarries not for dreamers and fools,
Make the best of each moment before it is gone;
The poor have their gruel and the rich have their jewels,
For me and my shoes it’s always “game on”!

A revolution yes – Tracy Chapman

And more – so alive – a voice of dark chocolate

“My Brilliant Image”
by Hafez e Shirazi

One day the sun admitted,
I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you
The Infinite Incandescence
That has cast my brilliant image!
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The Astonishing Light
Of your own Being!

Up in the hills not very far from Anoxia, a bit of heaven 😉

a hidden
incandescence lies within
the somber darkness of the self

TRUE LOVE
by
Hafez e Shirazi

True love has vanished from every heart;
What has befallen all lovers fair?
When did the bonds of friendship part?-
What has befallen the friends that were?
Ah, why are the feet of Khizr lingering?-
The waters of life are no longer clear,
The purple rose has turned pale with fear,
And what has befallen the wind of Spring?
None now sayeth: ‘A love was mine,
Loyal and wise, to dispel my care.’
None remembers love’s right divine;
What has befallen all lovers fair?
In the midst of the field, to the players’ feet,
The ball of God’s favour and mercy came,
But none has leapt forth to renew the game-
What has befallen the horsemen fleet?
Roses have bloomed, yet no bird rejoiced,
No vibrating throat has rung with the tale;
What can have silenced the hundred-voiced?
What has befallen the nightingale?
Heaven’s music is hushed, and the planets roll
In silence; has Zohra broken her lute?
There is none to press out the vine’s ripe fruit,
And what has befallen the foaming bowl?

A city where kings are but lovers crowned,
A land from the dust of which friendship springs-
Who has laid waste that enchanted ground?
What has befallen the city of kings?
Years have passed since a ruby was won
From the mine of manhood; they labour in vain,
The fleet-footed wind and the quickening rain,
And what has befallen the light of the sun?
Hafiz, the secret of God’s dread task
No man knoweth, in youth or prime
Or in wisest age; of whom would’st thou ask:
What has befallen the wheels of Time?

Julia Boutros is a Christian Lebanese singer. This concert was a tribute to Hizbollah after the 2006 war.
From what I can gather the Christians, the Sunni and the Shia Muslims in Lebanon are now more united than ever.

Mariam Elieshvili –
“Chven Axla Erturts”

Playing for change;

The Rubber Tree Leaf

I shall keep my heart
among the stars where none
shall hunt it out

only those who love
God are able to repel
the scorn and slander
of the world, like water
falling from the rubber
tree leaf

the palace rises
in beauty only against
the ugliness of
the dwellings of the poor

love is the essence
spirit, soul and life of all
that exists

not everything
we do will be noticed,
not everything we say will be heard,
not everything we meant will be understood.

in spite of all this;
love, forgive
and humbly accept that our Maker
sees and knows our true intentions,
and that He loves and cherishes us
for who and what we truly are!

Beautiful poem. Thank you for posting.

“Flowers Burn to Gold” – Tori Amos

The Hardened Heart

Life brings strength and youth,
then takes it away and returns
weakness and old age.

It takes power and trades
it for helplessness and infirmity.

It takes freedom and gives back
slavery. Man, once the lord of life,
becomes its victim.

Only love, can enter and
open the hardened heart.

Only love, like the tiny tendril,
first finds the crack in the boulder,
then grows and grows until
finally splitting stone in two!

So it is with the human heart
and love; love will open the most
hardened of hearts!

Sunday, 27 10 2024

Soul is sent into this world to experience ‘the banquet of life’, and must sample every dish on offer, until It finds that nothing assuages the hunger within. One day it senses, discovers or otherwise perceives Its Divine origins and so begins Its journey back home to God.

The Angel of Life

The keening wind through the eaves at night,
Stirs the restless heart to flight;
’Twill hobble happiness with curdled fears,
And stay plain truth for a hundred years!

O’, Angel of Light that heralds the day,
Each pale and vanishing conceit you allay,
And sunder misbegotten charms bestowed;
What poet does not till the ground you sowed?

What warrior does not heed the rallying call,
And rush headlong to his fated fall?
What lover does not drink his thirsty fill,
And rise to the task, whether good or ill?

What fiend-like queen does not live to destroy,
What fool does not court his frail joy?
This river flows through you like a river through a sieve;
Take what you take, and give what you give!

And when this brief life is finally done;
The kind of heart and the generous of tongue,
Remind to be thankful for every travail…
For what a crime it is to strive and to fail!

Tuesday, 28 10 2024

The last line pertains to “the Cup of Life”. Soul is offered the Cup of Life and is encouraged to raise the Cup and drink Its fill! There is no sorrow like the sorrow of regret.

Haiku Sequence

The Hidden Beloved

nine lives down,
nothing left of the cat but
a single whisker

the white stag;
has the Grey Man himself
joined the chase?

blood red moon;
only a single dragon remains;
yet to wake!

God’s very own;
the eye of the beholder
and the hidden beloved!

golden cascades of hair;
should singing birds have
crowned her head?

Just an oldie but a goodie…Regards to the spirit of Thomas Hood.

No sun, no moon!
No morn, no noon!
No dawn, no dusk, no proper time of day
No sky, no earthly view
No distance looking blue
No road, no street, no “t’other side this way”
No end to any Row
No indications where the Crescents go
No top to any steeple
No recognitions of familiar people
No courtesies for showing ’em
No knowing ’em!

No traveling at all, no locomotion
No inkling of the way, no notion
«No go» by land or ocean
No mail, no post
No news from any foreign coast
No Park, no Ring, no afternoon gentility
No company, no nobility
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds
November!

😉

The Poet’s Journal

One cold and wintry morning
While walking out the door,
I noticed a poet’s journal
Lying on the floor.
Embossed with a rearing horse,
In finest leather bound,
I couldn’t resist a look,
And this what I found;

A compendium of cat tales,
Replete with dialogue.
Elephants and reindeers
And a smattering of dog.
The quaintest clutch of fables,
Imbued with subtle blends,
Dashed off by the poet
With dedications to his friends.

Sonnets, songs and stanzas,
Filled with human wants,
Jostled with odes to girlfriends
And budding debutantes.
From the pile-up of love affairs,
Through refrains of sad remorse,
The poet never wavered
In plotting true love’s course.

And the parables and metaphors
Of every shape and kind,
Accounts of dreams and visions
And cures for the blind!
Secrets that shake and rend
The ground the grass grows on,
However high or low the road,
The poet’s quest goes goes on.

There were words that had no meaning,
Or meaning I understood.
There were colours I had no name for
And rued I ever would.
There were places I swore I’d been to,
And days without an end,
There were nights of conversation
And laughter with the Friend…

‘Twas a warm and sultry afternoon,
When I finally raised my head,
And late at night when I returned
To lay down in my bed.
What was it about the poet’s words
That so beguiled my mind?
I knew the truth of all he spoke
And saw myself in every line!

Sun of My Eyes

The sun of my eyes
was born today!

The spinning earth stood still,
as you climbed out of
your mother’s womb.

Seeing you;
sight returned to my eyes,
Though until this moment
I did not know that I was blind!

Flimsy form coverings dissolve
like a tiny moth’s body in wind.

The World of Being
suddenly became visible,
and everything appeared
as if bathed in brilliant,
searing light!

The Soul;
the Soul in all It’s regal beauty
showed it’s elusive face –
everywhere, in everything!

The wasteland that was
became a living, fragrant garden!

What could I have done
to deserve you?

When the source of joy
settles in your house,
say “May the blessings be”.

When a white lion greets you
at the top of the stairs, say;
“May the blessings be!”

“Madalasa’s lullaby” from the Markandeya Purana:

I am reposting this, having edited a section of it.

The Field of Reeds; an ancient Egyptian term for the Afterlife, as it appeared to them.

The Field of Reeds

I toil in mud on hands and knees,
Sifting the loam till winter’s freeze.
I sleep on the ground and sup on the weeds,
But that will all change in the Field of the Reeds.

Of all the fates that ever could be,
The worst is the slave that will never be free.
How cruel the heart of whoever decreed;
To be banished forever from the Field of the Reeds!

Pharaoh appears in his fine array,
Judgement won’t come until late in the day;
“Let the faithful believe they too will succeed,
And claim their reward in the Field of the Reeds!”

The Priest he laughs his peculiar laugh;
“I separate the wheat from the chaff;
What have you in store, before you proceed,
To claim thy place in the Field of the Reeds?”

Well, the Field It cries for the Reed at night,
And the River that’s hidden from human sight –
I know will provide for all of my needs…
When I build my home in the Field of the Reeds!

man is a mirror,
but can only reflect as much truth
as Soul can hold

Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Watching over one and all;
You see the faces and the games we play,
The one God gave and the one we made.

Mirror, mirror, meek and mild,
Heart so pure and undefiled;
You see me as I really am,
You see the wolf, you see the lamb.

Mirror, mirror, if you could speak –
O’, the havoc that you would wreak!
You know the names and the places, too,
You know the things that people do.

Mirror, mirror, calm and wise,
You see the truth behind the lies;
Always ready to aid and abet,
Always ready to forgive and forget.

Mirror, mirror, each break of day,
You rise up early to show the way;
Time unravels with undue haste,
The best laid plans are all erased…

Mirror, mirror, is it true;
That under the sun there’s nothing new?
That the weak will rise, and the mighty, rue…
That under the sun, there’s only you?

soundtrack to a coup d état (2024)

johan grimonprez

louis armstrong, miles davis nina simone

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14452174/

Haiku Sequence

The Youngest Daughter

midsummer heat,
pulsing with the song of insects –
the field left unploughed

under this shady bough;
even the black bull pauses
in solemn praise

there among the peonies;
his prospects suddenly
take an upward turn!

her lost hairpin;
how to benefit from
it’s return?

bright red toenails –
the memory of her
slender brown feet lingering…

Kashtin – Tshinanu /Nous autres

The Spear of Destiny

the spear of destiny;
no matter how high or low the aim,
will find its mark!

the riches of this world
blind the ignorant to the
riches of the soul

man’s fate lies buried
in the quicksand between
intention and action

the cure for evil;
the unobstructed sound and
light of God!

now and until the end
of all things, I am thy hope,
comfort and refuge!

The Most Rare of Birds!

love unties the
shackles of the mind and
frees the wings of soul

truth is easier
for the heart to accept
than it is for the mind

that which impedes the
soul is only a shadow
of a greater truth

make love thy master, for
love is God and whosoever
loves shall find God

soul dwells beyond time
and space in that nameless world
ye know as God

an untainted melody
singing deep within;
the most rare of birds!

Maya Neelakantan plays Entharo Mahanubhavulu

Don’t forget to listen to it’s meaning at 13:00.

Make it simple …

Is it an art to laugh?

<iframe loading=”lazy” width=”823″ height=”617″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/srHQe6-AnRw?list=PLbudOetmWPuR5RxaprSIXw9jlTOfeZ5Ad&#8221; title=”Lisa Gerrard – Amergin's Invocation” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here you are:

Thank you Amarynth, but how can I do it myself? Hugs, Nico.

That is something I would like to know as well.

OK; let me tell you lol. This is for youtube videos and the plot thickens with videos from other sources. As the world is in craziness, the tech is in craziness.

OK, start your youtube video, not full screen, nothing fancy .. right click right on the video (Oh dear heavens, I hope there is a right click on windows, I’m on Linux and have forgotten windoze).

Anyway, right click .. select ’embed video’ or anything that looks like ’embed’.

Come back here and use text mode to paste your embed code.

Its not so hard .. except, when it is hard. Your key word is ’embed’.

(Nico, you tried to embed a video that was already full screen .. lol. No can do. I simply went back to a normal mode and followed the procedure as outlined here)

<iframe width=”772″ height=”498″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/hb9sv3KdBtg?list=OLAK5uy_nH7KB57oCY4W9oeAVZ0XgFbpwtlInrIBE&#8221; title=”All in You, All in Me” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Coolangubra; “All in You, All in Me”

Is this working?

<iframe width=”600″ height=”400″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/srHQe6-AnRw&#8221; title=”Lisa Gerrard – Amergin's Invocation” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Amarynth, I see only you and AHH able to post youtube video’s in correct format, but all others like me not. Am I missing something? I really would like to be able to post correct video’s and do that myself. Hope you ore AHH can help here.