Elizabeth Barret Browning 1806-1861
A WOMAN'S SHORTCOMINGS
She has laughed as softly as if she sighed,She has counted six, and over,
Of a purse well filled, and a heart well tried -
Oh, each a worthy lover!
They "give her time"; for her soul must slip
Where the world has set the grooving;
She will lie to none with her fair red lip:
But love seeks truer loving.
She trembles her fan in a sweetness dumb,
As her thoughts were beyond recalling;
With a glance for one, and a glance for some,
From her eyelids rising and falling;
Speaks common words with a blushful air,
Hears bold words, unreproving;
But her silence says - what she never will swear -
And love seeks better loving.
Go, lady! lean to the night-guitar,
And drop a smile to the bringer;
Then smile as sweetly, when he is far,
At the voice of an in-door singer.
Bask tenderly beneath tender eyes;
Glance lightly, on their removing;
And join new vows to old perjuries -
But dare not call it loving!
Unless you can think, when the song is done,
No other is soft in the rhythm;
Unless you can feel, when left by One,
That all men else go with him;
Unless you can know, when unpraised by his breath,
That your beauty itself wants proving;
Unless you can swear "For life, for death!" -
Oh, fear to call it loving!
Unless you can muse in a crowd all day
On the absent face that fixed you;
Unless you can love, as the angels may,
With the breadth of heaven betwixt you;
Unless you can dream that his faith is fast,
Through behoving and unbehoving;
Unless you can die when the dream is past -
Oh, never call it loving!
Clear
 |
| "Observatory" |
When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.
Praise God for those two insomnias!
And the difference between them."
— Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
Reflection
 |
| "Thank You" |
"Oaks are the true conservatives;
They hold old leaves till summer gives
A green exchange."
~Roy Helton
Projection
Be careful about projecting your own motives onto the behavior of others. Try to see others as they actually are, not as another version of yourself, or another version of someone from your past. Treat each person with the respect that you would show the person you most admire on Earth, and you will be less likely to act with your unconscious prejudice. Try hard, it's important, not just for them, but for your own heart.
Soul Mates
What if you meet your soul mate, and you are each very respectful of one another, and of life itself, and you love deeply, laugh often, and live well every day of your life?
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