The Silver One

in the nighttime sky
in the darkness between two days
the silver one goes sailing
flying hand in hand with her sister stars
crying
because the life of man
is an empty dream
- anonymous -


I don't know why this poem touches me so. I found it in some obscure book when I was 13 years old. It had such an effect on me that I memorized instantly, and all these years later, it still makes me sad. And I feel the truth of it, especially in my life.

Sounds of Silence - Lyrics

Artist - Simon and Garfunkle

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Bittersweet

By Carole Nichols


The taste of joy, how bittersweet
Mingled twixt a mother's tears
That justice comes, slowly sure
Cannot erase the lonely years.

A mother's love held fast by faith,
And kindness cushions sadness deep.
Yet much preferred are children's arms
O'er justice coming, full, replete.

The years loom long and empty,
Oh, bittersweet the victory!
Tears mark the grieving lines,
Made deep by aching memory.


May God continue to bless you Virgie Arthur. I'll fight for as long as you do!

I Hear Spring

By Carole Nichols

My daffodils are blooming bold,
In the ground still touched cold.
Frost and freezing gasping last;
I hear the Spring a'coming fast.

As Winter's fingers melt away;
The gentle green comes out to play.
And I laugh as the sun touches warm;
Again she's beat the frigid storm.


I love the Springtime, when everything is fresh and new. I can't wait for the last of the cold to be gone, and for the air to be scented with the fragrance of nature at it's best. And I found this:

A Spring View

Tu Fu (c. 750)


Though a country be sundered, hills and rivers endure;
And spring comes green again to trees and grasses
Where petals have been shed like tears
And lonely birds have sung their grief.
...After the war-fires of three months,
One message from home is worth a ton of gold.
...I stroke my white hair. It has grown too thin
To hold the hairpins any more.
trans. Witter Bynner


Wow, so powerful!