Saturday, June 19, 2010

hold thy lips ready to speak

the dusty road
that winds before
and behind me
is full of the speakable
and the unspeakable
stories
that are the doing of my life
the being of me

~

i have to believe
the stories
were intended
for me
either to walk into
to read
or to write

that's why i've lived them

and yet
i find that people
want to know

some even suggest
they need to know
those very same stories
indeed i feel much of that
myself

and perhaps that's
one of the great mysteries
of this place
for me

if we are each
matrix maps
of energy clusters
emerging like flowers
or starry accretions
from the one great
cluster
which i know as love

how is it
that we have this
overwhelming urge
to share our vantage point

our knowing
of our state of being

when ultimately
we are all describing
something
that comes from the same place

is it our work here
to create and experience
the journey
and then to share our variant

is that it

federico zandomeneghi la strada


i asked a gypsy pal
to imitate an old image
and speak old wisdom.
she drew in her chin,
made her neck and head
the top piece of a nile obelisk
and said:
snatch off the gag from thy mouth, child,
and be free to keep silence.
tell no man anything for no man listens,
yet hold thy lips ready to speak.

10 comments:

Dan Gurney said...

Those who speak do not know;
Those who know do not speak.

Lao Tzu

Tess Kincaid said...

Ah, but stories must be told.

Kathleen said...

Most intriguing, Steven. Most intriguing.

steven said...

dan hi! i've been silent of necessity of late entirely because of my work as a teacher. it's almost at a close and then i'll be sad because finishing the vast amount of paperwork also means letting my kids go to their next school. i've done this eighteen times before. it never gets easier. hopefully then i'll be able to spend some time visiting my bloggy chums before i head out on my big bike adventure. steven

steven said...

willow they sometimes must. one thing you know and i've found also is that the stories i valued for myself have some value for others also. it sort of surprises me actually. steven

steven said...

kathleen - oh it very much is!!! steven

Elisabeth said...

These words are profound, Steven: snatch off the gag from thy mouth, child,
and be free to keep silence.
tell no man anything for no man listens,
yet hold thy lips ready to speak.

It sounds pretty impossible and yet we keep on trying.

thanks.

CiCi said...

Your blog is one of the POTW on Everyday Goddess. I am so taken with the clean look of your blog and your artwork and quotes. I will be visiting again for sure.

Jinksy said...

"overwhelming urge
to share our vantage point"

That just about sums up us bloggers!
You always seem to have a good one, by the way...

Butternut Squash said...

I love the hearing as much as the telling. The best stories capture the feelings of the common journey but from a unique perspective. I can't wait to hear your biking tales. Peace.