Charles Landelle, Juive de tanger, 1908

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.


And it is well you should.
The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.
For self is a sea boundless and measureless.


Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Daily Haiku

Susan E. Roden, Rising Sun

Sun rises boldly 

Kissing sky like a lover

Clouds blush demurely 

Watching the display

They race to join sun and sky

A lovely Triune  

Daily Haiku...

I feel the warm breeze

upon my skin like a thought

Tickling my senses

I know the way you can get

When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,

Your sweet muscles cramp.

Children become concerned

About a strange look that appears in your eyes.

Which even begins to worry your own mirror 

And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness

And call an important conference in a tall tree.

They decide which secret code to chant

To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness

That arrays itself against the world

And throws sharp stones and spears into

The innocent 

And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get

If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart

Every sentence your friends and teachers say,

Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale

Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure

From every angle in your darkness

The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once

Trusted.

I know the way you can get

If you have not had a drink from Love's

Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of

The vital need

To keep remembering God,

So you will come to know and see Him

As being so Playful

And Wanting

Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:

Bring your cup near me.

For all I care about

Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about

Is giving Love!

Renderings of Hafiz, I heard God Laughing

(Artwork: Remzi Taskiran)

Venus in Pisces


Love in exaltation

She flows in Divine Romance

Her heart beats

To the rhythm of the Cosmos

She lives only

For the enchantment of the heart



Lofty aspirations

She delights as Neptune’s Muse

Her mind plays

In the seductive waters of illusion

She seeks only

To render her siren’s beckoning call



Universal empathy

She is the Alchemical Goddess

Her soul lifts

The mundane to ethereal heights

She desires only

To merge in perennial sacred love




Supreme sacrifice

She clings to her Martyr’s Heart

Her spirit longs

To explore the greater mystery

She endeavors only

To manifest the unity of all souls



Jennifer Adams Teasley

(Artwork: Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Venus Verticordia)

The essence of human experience lay not primarily in the peak experiences, the wedding days and triumphs which stood out in the memory like dates circled in red on old calendars, but, rather, in the unself-conscious flow of little things--the weekend afternoon with each member of the family engaged in his or her own pursuit, their crossings and connections casual, dialogues imminently forgettable, but the sum of such hours creating a synergy which was important and eternal.

Dan Simmons, Hyperion

(Artwork: Pierre Auguste Renoir)

Moon in Aries

Passions flare

She seeks to fill the needs

Of her indomitable will

They ignite in rapture

Scorching her mind

Uncontainable

Effeminate fire 

She fails to quell the flames

Of her turbulent heart

They burn in ecstasy

Searing her soul

Uncontrollable 

Desires appease

She attempts to cool the ardor 

Of her rapacious impulses

They simmer in reticence 

Sustaining her composure

Unpredictable

Emotions dissipate

She resolves to soothe her Self

Of her poignant maladies 

They smolder in abeyance

Pacifying her pride

Undeniable 

Jennifer Adams Teasley

(Artwork: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Mood)