i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

ode to an avocado

ode to an avocado

by Catherine Wright TaylorWondrous fruit of black and green
Need only be peeled for its wealth to be seen.
A sprinkle of pepper and salt can suffice
But additions of lemon and onion are nice.
Mashed in a bowl, seasoned just right
Delicious companion for chips late at night.
Ah! what joy and pleasure akin
When we take the time to look under the skin.

Invictus

My husband and I went to see Invictus last night, and we both loved the film. I won't tell you much about it except that everyone should take some time out of their busy holiday schedule to go and see this amazing and wonderful movie!

The following is the poem which inspired the title... Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

(photo courtesy of Kiersten Tenney)Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Poetry by Pablo Neruda

And it was at that age ... Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.

I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.

And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

Happy Earth Day!

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies.
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

One of my favorite traditions for the holidays is going up to Temple Square and hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform in their annual Christmas concert. I love seeing all the lights, and being part of the large crowd that bravely faces the cold in Salt Lake City.

The choir always invites the best guests and has the best program, and this year was no exception. Guest singer Brian Stokes Mitchell wowed the crowd with his vocal range, but it was Edward Herrmann's reading of Longfellow's Christmas that stole the show.
Many people know American author and poet Henry W. Longfellow from such works as The Village Blacksmith, Evangeline, Song of Hiawatha, The Children's Hour and The Courtship of Miles Standish. However, he also wrote one of the most beloved Christmas carols, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Originally a poem, it was later edited and set to music, and is now sung all over the world.

Edward Herrmann powerfully tells the story behind the story of Longfellow's tragedy that inspired this beautiful poem. His wife was burned to death in their home, and he himself suffered severe burns after trying to save her. She was later buried on their anniversary.

During that time, America was in the midst of Civil War (with no end in sight), when Longfellow received news that his son, Charles, was seriously wounded. Rushing to his side, they reunited on Christmas Day, and it was shortly thereafter that he created the words to the now famous song. (For the full story, please click here).

Mr. Herrmann's powerful re-telling, coupled with the choir singing, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, was absolutely outstanding. Every time you hear that song, I hope you remember the wonderful story behind the story. Merry Christmas!

Loreena McKennitt

Canadian born singer Loreena McKennitt, is one of those rare artists who combines elements of the past into something universal and relevant to those of us living in the present.
It is obvious through McKennitt's work that she has a deep love of all things ancient. Her music has Celtic and Arabic inspired origins, and most of her lyrics are taken from classical poetry and stories - among them: W.B. Yeats, Dante, Tennyson, and Alfred Noyes. It is this combination of the two which makes her such a special, extraordinary, and widely loved musician.

McKennitt received mainstream popularity a few years ago through her song, "The Mummer's Dance", which had plenty of air-time on many pop/rock channels. To her fans however, she is known as a "New Age" artist - with contemporaries in Enya, Clannad, and Yanni (to name a few). Her haunting and ethereal voice is set to harp, string, and celtic flute, to give her a rich "old world" sound.

Her CD's include: "Book of Secrets", "An Ancient Muse", "The Mask and Mirror", and her newest endeavor, "A Midwinter Night's Dream." My personal favorite of McKennitt's work is probably her album, "The Visit", which includes such tracks as: "All Souls Night", "The Lady of Shallot", a wonderful version of "Greensleeves", and my all-time favorite song: "The Old Ways". However, I also like her "Live From Paris and Toronto" CD, which is a sampling of many of her best works. For more information on the lovely Loreena McKennitt, please visit her website: www.quinlanroad.com. Happy listening!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother, I love you so.
Said the child, I love you more than I know.
She laid her head on her mother's arm,
And the love between them kept them warm.

-Stevie Smith

Happy Earth Day!

All the names I know from nurse:
Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,
Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,
And the Lady Hollyhock.

Fairy places, fairy things,
Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
Tiny trees for tiny dames--
These must all be fairy names!
Tiny woods below whose boughs
Shady fairies weave a house;
Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,
Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people's trees,
But the fairest woods are these;
Where, if I were not so tall,
I should live for good and all.

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy Valentine's Day

Love Sonnet XLV

Don't go far off, not even for a day, because--
because--I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

Pablo Neruda