On The Nature Of Love

The night is black and the forest has no end;

a million people thread it in a million ways.
We have trysts to keep in the darkness, but where
or with whom - of that we are unaware.
But we have this faith - that a lifetime's bliss
will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips.
cents, touches, sounds, snatches of songs
brush us, pass us, give us delightful shocks.
Then peradventure there's a flash of lightning!
whomever " see that instant " fall in love with.
" call that person and cry! #This life is blest$
for your sake such miles have " traversed$'
%ll those others who came close and moved off
in the darkness - " don't know if they e&ist or not.
'abindranath Tagore
Colored Toys
When " bring to you colored toys, my child,
" understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water,
and why flowers are painted in tints
---when " give colored toys to you, my child.
When " sing to make you dance
" truly now why there is music in leaves,
and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth
---when " sing to make you dance.
When " bring sweet things to your greedy hands
" know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers
and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet (uice
---when " bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When " kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,
" surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,
and what delight that is that is which the summer bree)e brings to my body
---when " kiss you to make you smile.
'abindranath Tagore
Clouds and Waves
*other, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me-
+We play from the time we wake till the day ends.
We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon.+
" ask, +But how am " to get up to you ,+
They answer, +-ome to the edge of the earth, lift up your
hands to the sky, and you will be taken up into the clouds.+
+*y mother is waiting for me at home, +" say, +.ow can " leave
her and come,+
Then they smile and float away.
But " know a nicer game than that, mother.
" shall be the cloud and you the moon.
" shall cover you with both my hands, and our house-top will
be the blue sky.
The folk who live in the waves call out to me-
+We sing from morning till night; on and on we travel and know
not where we pass.+
" ask, +But how am " to (oin you,+
They tell me, +-ome to the edge of the shore and stand with
your eyes tight shut, and you will be carried out upon the waves.+
" say, +*y mother always wants me at home in the everything-
how can " leave her and go,+
They smile, dance and pass by.
But " know a better game than that.
" will be the waves and you will be a strange shore.
" shall roll on and on and on, and break upon your lap with
laughter.
%nd no one in the world will know where we both are.
'abindranath Tagore
Flower
/luck this little flower and take it, delay not$ " fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
" may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. " fear lest the day end before " am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.
Freedom
0reedom from fear is the freedom
" claim for you my motherland$
0reedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,
breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning
call of the future;
0reedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith
you fasten yourself in night's stillness,
mistrusting the star that speaks of truth's adventurous paths;
freedom from the anarchy of destiny
whole sails are weakly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,
and the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.
0reedom from the insult of dwelling in a puppet's world,
where movements are started through brainless wires,
repeated through mindless habits,
where figures wait with patience and obedience for the
master of show,
to be stirred into a mimicry of life.
'abindranath Tagore
Fairyland
"f people came to know where my king's palace is, it would vanish
into the air.
The walls are of white silver and the roof of shining gold.
The 1ueen lives in a palace with seven courtyards, and she
wears a (ewel that cost all the wealth of seven kingdoms.
But let me tell you, mother, in a whisper, where my king's
palace is.
"t is at the corner of our terrace where the pot of the tulsi
plant stands.
The princess lies sleeping on the far-away shore of the seven
impassable seas.
There is none in the world who can find her but myself.
he has bracelets on her arms and pearl drops in her ears; her
hair sweeps down upon the floor.
he will wake when " touch her with my magic wand and (ewels
will fall from her lips when she smiles.
But let me whisper in your ear, mother; she is there in the
corner of our terrace where the pot of the tulsi plant stands.
When it is time for you to go to the river for your bath, step
up to that terrace on the roof.
" sit in the corner where the shadow of the walls meet
together.
2nly puss is allowed to come with me, for she know where the
barber in the story lives.
But let me whisper, mother, in your ear where the barber in
the story lives.
"t is at the corner of the terrace where the pot of the tulsi
plant stands.
'abindranath Tagore
I am building a rocket
I'm building a rocket.
As soon as I'm done
I'm taking my friends
on a trip to the sun.
But what to you mean
that the sun is too hot?
Oh well, I suppose
I'll just pick a new spot.
I'm building a rocket.
I'm finishing soon
and taking my friends
on a trip to the moon
But what do you mean
that the moon has no air?
!ell dang, then I guess
that we can't go up there.
I'm building a rocket.
It's going to fly.
I'm taking my friends
way up high in the sky.
But what do you mean
when you ask how we'll land?
"his rocket is harder
to build than I planned.
"o heck with the rocket.
It's out in the shed.
I'm taking my friends
out for pi##a instead.
--Kenn Nesbitt