TAO

CHIEN (364-427) [CHINA]

[studied Confucianism & Taoism, & Buddhism later, but mostly spoke of reclusion]

1
Man's life is a matter of possessing the Way,
But food and clothing truly are its beginnings.
How can one make no provision whatsoever for these
And yet seek contentment for oneself? ...
To be a farmer is surely a harsh lot;
One cannot refuse these hardships.
I only wish that I might continue like this;
At plowing with my own hand I have no complaint.
2
Living in poverty I have little human contact,
And at times forget the cycle of four season.
In my courtyard there are many fallen leaves.
Moved by these I know it is already autumn.
New sunflowers grow thick by the northern window,
Fine ripe grain has been raised in my southern fields.
If I am not happy now,
How do I know there will be another year?
I call my wife and take the children by the hand;
This fair day we will go wandering in the hills.
3

By nature he is fond of wine,
but his family is poor
and he cannot usually get it.
His relatives and friends know this,
and sometimes
set out wine and invite him.


SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI (1182-1226) [ITALY]

Francis was born in 1182, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. His early years were frivolous, but an experience of
sickness and another of military service were instrumental in leading him to reflect on the purpose of life. One day,
in the church of San Damiano, he seemed to hear Christ saying to him, Francis, repair my falling house. He took
the words literally, and sold a bale of silk from his fathers warehouse to pay for repairs to the church of San
Damiano. His father was outraged, and there was a public confrontation at which his father disinherited and
disowned him, and he in turn renounced his fathers wealthone account says that he not only handed his father
his purse, but also took off his expensive clothes, laid them at his fathers feet, and walked away naked. He
declared himself wedded to Lady Poverty, renounced all material possessions, and devoted himself to serving the
poor. In his day the most dreaded of all diseases was something known as leprosy. (It is probably not the same as
either the modern or the Biblical disease of that name.) Lepers were kept at a distance and regarded with fear and
disgust. Francis cared for them, fed them, bathed their sores, and kissed them. Since he could not pay for repairs to
the Church of San Damiano, he undertook to repair it by his own labors. He moved in with the priest, and begged
stones lying useless in fields, shaping them for use in repairing the church. He got his meals, not by asking for
money so that he might live at the expense of others, but by scrounging crusts and discarded vegetable from trash-
bins, and by working as a day laborer, insisting on being paid in bread, milk, eggs, or vegetables rather than in
money. Soon a few companions joined him.

HE ASKED FOR CHARITY
God came to my house and asked for charity.
And I fell on my knees and cried,
Beloved, what may I give?
Just love, He said.
Just love.


DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321) [ITALY]
from the Paradiso

Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic father
disowned him
because of his love for a beautiful lady.

She had been married before, to Christ,
and was so faithful a spouse to Him that,
while Mary only stood at the foot of the Cross,
she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross.

These two of whom I speak are
Francis and the Lady Poverty.

As they walked along together,
the sight of their mutual love drew mens hearts after them.

Bernard saw them and ran after them,
kicking off his shoes to run faster to so great a peace.
Giles and Sylvester saw them,
kicked off their shoes and ran to join them.


JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745) [IRELAND]

A Modest Proposal
I am assured by our merchants that a boy or a girl, before twelve years old, is no saleable commodity,
and even when they come to this age, they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and
half a crown at most on the Exchange, which cannot turn to account either to the parents or to the
kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value.
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least
objection.
I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy
child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed,
roasted, baked, or boiled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.
I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the hundred and twenty thousand
children, already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one fourth
part to be males, which is more than we allow to sheep, black-cattle, or swine, and my reason is that
these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages,
therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand
may at a year old be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune throughout the kingdom,
always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump,
and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the
family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little
pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.
I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year if
tolerably nursed increaseth to 28 pounds.
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have
already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE (1861-1941) (INDIA) (Hindu)

WHEN DAY IS DONE

If the day is done,
if birds sing no more,
if the wind has flagged tired,
then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me,
even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep
and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk.

From the traveler,
whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended,
whose garment is torn and dust-laden,
whose strength is exhausted,
remove shame and poverty,
and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.


CHINUA ACHEBE (1930-2013) [NIGERIA]

Refugee Mother and Child
No Madonna and Child could touch
that picture of a mother's tenderness
for a son she would soon have to forget.

The air was heavy with odors
of diarrhea of unwashed children
with washed-out ribs and dried-up
bottoms struggling in labored
steps behind blown empty bellies.
Most mothers there had long ceased
to care but not this one; she held
a ghost smile between her teeth
and in her eyes the ghost of a mother's
pride as she combed the rust-colored
hair left on his skull and then -
singing in her eyes - began carefully
to part it. In another life
this would have been a little daily
act of no consequence before his
breakfast and school; now she
did it like putting flowers
on a tiny grave.


CONTEMPORARY [AMERICA] [NATIVE AMERICAN]


Poverty by Sherman Alexie

When youre poor and hungry
And love your dog
You share your food with him.
There is no love like his.
When youre poor and hungry
And your dog gets sick,
You cant afford to take him
To the veterinarian,
So you have to watch him get sicker
And cough blood and cry all night.
You cant afford to put him gently to sleep
So your uncle comes over for free
And shoots your dog twice in the head
And buries him in the town dump.


CONTEMPORARY [AMERICA] [AFRICAN-AMERICAN/CHICAGO, ILLINOIS]


For Those Who Need a True Story, by Tara Betts
The landlord told Raymonds mother that twelve dollars
would be deducted from their rent for every rat killed.
She sends her son to the store for a loaf of Wonder Bread
and five pounds of ground beef. Young Raymond
returns with bread & meat that she tears & mixes inside
a metal bowl. Mama seasons this meatloaf with rat poison
pulled from the cabinet beneath the sink. Well done,
meat sits steaming in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Then the scratching scurries. The squeaking begins
and screeches its way toward the bowl.
Raymond describes the wave of rats like a tidal crash
covering the bowl, leaping over each others bodies,
then the dropping, the stutter kicks.
A chorus of rat screams rambles through Raymonds ears.
Keening, furry bodies tense paws against churning guts
as they hit cracked linoleum until an hour passes.
Silence sweeps away the din in deaths footsteps.
The mothers voice quivers in her next request.
Raymond, help me count them.
They waded through these small deaths with rubber gloves,
listened to the thump of each dead rat as it rustled against
the slackness of plastic bags.
Raymond wanted to stop counting,
but Mama needed to save a dozen dollars
wherever she could
if they wanted to finally leave the rats behind.
After the last rat was counted, Raymond handed
the bag to the landlord as proof. Here.
Enough rats to skip the rent for three months.
Enough rats to avoid the fear of sweet sleeping
breath leading to bitten lips.
Healthy children wrapped in designer dictates
cannot describe Raymonds fear of rabies,
the smell of poison rotting from the inside out,
the scratching inside the walls at night.
Those children
should find soft lives
that drop pendulums in their dreams
and never tell another story
about the ghetto
until theyve had to count rats
with their hands.


CONTEMPORARY [AMERICA] [AFRICAN-AMERICAN/STATEN ISLAND, NYC, NY]

"All That I Got Is You" by GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Yeah, ohh yeah, this goes out
to all the families that went through the struggle
Yeah, from the heart
It was from the heart, everything was real

All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through

Yo, dwellin in the past, flashbacks when I was young
Whoever thought that I'd have a baby girl and three sons
I'm goin through this difficult stage I find it hard to believe
Why my old Earth had so many seeds
But she's an old woman, and due to me I respect that
I saw life for what it's really worth and took a step back
Family ain't family no more, we used to play ball
Eggs after school, eat grits cause we was poor
Grab the pliers for the channel, fix the hanger on the TV
Rockin each others pants to school wasn't easy
We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats
We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes
Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six
I didn't know nuttin but mommy neatly packed his shit
She cried, and grandma held the family down
I guess mommy wasn't strong enough, she just went down
Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment
Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there
Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head
I didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bed
Seven o'clock, pluckin roaches out the cereal box
Some shared the same spoon, watchin saturday cartoons
Sugar water was our thing, every meal was no thrill
In the summer, free lunch held us down like steel
And there was days I had to go to Tex house with a note
Stating "Gloria can I borrow some food I'm dead broke"
So embarrasin I couldn't stand to knock on they door
My friends might be laughin, I spent stamps in stores
Mommy where's the toilet paper, use the newspaper
Look Ms. Rose gave us a couch, she's the neighbor
Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats
Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it killed me

But I remember this, mom's would lick her finger tips

To wipe the cold out my eye before school wit her spit
Case worker had her runnin back to face to face
I caught a case, housin tried to throw us out of our place
Sometimes I look up at the stars and analyze the sky
And ask myself was I meant to be here... why?

All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through

Word up mommy, I love you
Word upIt was all you, word, you brought me in like this

I sit and think about
All the times we did without, yeah
I always said I woudn't cry
When I saw tears in your eyes
I understand that daddy's not here now
But some way or somehow, I will always be around, yeah
All things that I did from this to them
Oh from drugs to being there
Being down and out and I love you always

Yeah, you say
You see the universe, which consists of the sun moon and star
And them planets, that exist in my space
Like man woman and child
You understand?
We got to keep it real, and what reality and reality will keep it real with us
I remember them good ol days
Because see, that's the child I was
What made me the man I am today
See cause if you forget where you come from, heheh
You're never gonna make it where you're goin, aheh
Because you lost the reality of yourself
So take one stroll through your mind
And see what you will find
And you'll see a whole universe all over again
and again and again and again and again
Heheheh, yeah heheheheh ahaheheheh


CONTEMPORARY [INDIA] [FEATURED ON: CNN HEROES / T.E.D. Talks]

Narayanan Krishnan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiC_9RHTvsA