N - Z
N
O
Sherken O'Griffin
food for thought
i am but a
crumb
on the big table of life
course, i do not mind
because no
one eats the crumbs
until the meal is all
done
P
Jack Prelutsky
If You Don't Believe In
Dragons
If you don't believe in dragons
It is curiously
true,
That the dragons you disparage
Choose to not believe in you.
Q
R
S
William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Theseus, Act V, Lines
4-22-
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such
shaping, fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever
comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet,
Are of
imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than hell can
hold,
That is the madman; the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's
beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a frenzy rolling,
Doth
glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination
bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them
to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a
name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That, if it would but
apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or in
the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear!
Venus and Adonis
Venus, Lines 433-444
"Had I
no eyes, but ears, my ears would love
That inward beauty and
invisible;
Or were I deaf thy outward parts would move
Each part in
me that were but sensible:
Though neither eyes nor ears, to hear nor
see,
Yet should I be in love by touching thee.]
Say, that the
sense of feeling were bereft me,
And that I could not see, nor hear,
nor touch,
And nothing but the very smell were left me,
Yet would my
love to thee be still as much;
Far form the still'tory of thy face
excelling
Comes breath perfum'd that breedeth love
by smelling."
T
U
V
W
Walt Whitman
By the Roadside
Leaves of Grass
When I heard the learn'd
astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures were ranged in columns before
me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams to add, divide, and
measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured
with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became
tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wandered off by
myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to
time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.
X
Y
Z
Unknown
A Dog's Prayer
Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no
heart in the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of
mine.
Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick
your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly
teach me the things you would have me learn.
Speak to me often, for
your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce
wagging of my tail when the sound of your footsteps falls upon my
ears.
Please take me inside when it is cold and wet for I am a
domesticated animal no longer accustomed to bitter elements and I ask no
glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet.
Keep my pan filled
with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.
Feed me
clean food, that I may stay well to romp and play and do your bidding; to
walk by your side and stand ready and able to protect you with my life,
should yours be in danger.
And, my friend, when I am old and deprived of my
health and sight, do not turn me away from you; rather see that my trusted
life is taken gently, and I shall leave knowing with that last breath I
draw that my fate was always safest in your hands.
A Reading in Unlove
Santa Claus and
Little Sisters
Once on a yellow paper with green lines he wrote
a poem,
And his teacher gave him an "A" and a gold star,
And his
mother hung it on the kitchen door,
And read it to all his
aunts.
That was the year Father Tracy took all the kids to the zoo and
let them sing on the bus,
And that was the year his little sister was
born with tiny toenails and no hair,
And his mother and father kissed a
lot, and the girl around the corner sent him a valentine signed with a row
of x's,
And his father tucked him in bed a t night, and he was always
there to do it.
Once on a white paper with green lines he wrote a
poem,
And he called it "Autumn" because that was the name of the season
and that's what it was all about,
And his teacher gave him an "A" and
told him to write more clearly,
And his mother never hung it on the
kitchen door because the door had just been painted.
That was the year
the kids told him Father Tracy smoked cigars and left the butts in the
pews,
And that was the year his sister got glasses with thick lenses
and black frames,
And the kids told him why his mother and father
kissed lot,
And the girl around the corner laughed at him when he went
to see Santa Claus at Macy's,
And his father never tucked him in bed at
night, and got mad when he got sad and cried for him to do it.
Once
on a piece of paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem,
And he
called it "Question Mark - Innocence?" because that was the name of his
girl and that was what it was all about.
And his professor gave him an
"A" and a strange steady look,
And his mother never hung it on the
kitchen door because he never let her see it,
That was the year Father
Tracy died and he caught his sister kissing on the front porch,
And he
forgot the end of "Apostles Creed",
And his mother and father never
kissed anymore or even talked,
And the girl around the corner wore too
much make-up,
And he coughed when he kissed her but he kissed her
anyway,
And at 3 A.M. he tucked himself into bed, his father snoring
soundly.
That's why on the back of a pack of matches he tried
another poem,
And entitled it absolutely nothing because that's what it
was all about,
And he gave himself an "A" and a slash on each damp
wrist,
And he hung it on the bathroom door because
he never reached the kitchen.
* Barbara had a cat.
It swallowed a ball of yarn.
And when the cat
had kittens,
They all had sweaters on.
A Gaelic Blessing
May the road rise to meet
you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm
upon your face
And the rain fall soft upon your fields;
And until we
meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
If I were a
head of lettuce,
I'd cut myself in two.
I'd give the leaves to all
my friends
And save the heart for you.
* If your husband is
thirsty
And wants a drink,
Take him to the kitchen
And show him the sink.
An Irish
Blessing
May there always be
work for your hands to do
May your purse always hold a coin or
two
May the sun always shine upon your window pane
May a rainbow be
certain to follow each rain
May the hand of a friend always be near to
you
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer
you.
The Little Boy and the Old Man
Said the little boy,
"Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, " I do that too."
The
little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the
little old man.
"Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man
nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it
seems
Grown-ups don't pay any attention to me."
And he felt the
warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.
Masks: An Epilogue
Don't be fooled by the face I wear, for I wear a thousand
masks,
And none of them are me.
Don't be fooled, for God's sake,
don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure, that
confidence is my name and coolness my game.
And that I need no one. But
don't believe me.
Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in
aloneness, in fear.
That's why I created a mask to hide behind to
shield me from the glance
That knows, but such a glance is precisely my
salvation.
That is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's
followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from my own
self-built prison walls. I'm afraid that deep down I'm nothing and that
I'm just no good,
And that you will see this and reject me.
And
so begins the parade of masks. I idly chatter to you.
I tell you
everything that's really nothing, and
Nothing of what's everything, of
what's crying within me.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what
I'm NOT saying.
I'd really like to be genuine and spontaneous, and
ME.
But you've got to help me. You've got out hold out your
hand.
Each time you're kind and gentle, and encouraging,
Each
time you try to understand because you really care,
My heart begins to
grow wings.
With your sensitivity and sympathy, and your power of
understanding,
You alone can release me from my shallow world of
uncertainty.
It will not be easy for you. The hearer you approach
me,
The blinder I may strike back.
But I'm told Love is stronger
than strong walls,
And in this lies my hope, my only
hope.
Please try to beat down these walls with firm hands.
But
gentle hands, for a child is very sensitive.
Who am I, you
wonder
I am every man you meet, and also every woman that you
meet,
And I am YOU also.
There are seven ages of woman:
Diaper-pins
Whip-pins
Hair pins
Fraternity
pins
Diamond pins
Clothes pins
Rolling pins
(Beware the lady
of the seventh age.)
* This life is a test
It is only a
test.
Had it been an actual life
You would have received
Further
instructions on
What the hell to do!
* To laugh is to risk
appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To
reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose our feelings is
to risk exposing our true selves.
To place our ideas and dreams before
the crowds is to risk to lose.
To love is to risk not being loved in
return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To
try at all is to risk failure.
But risk we must, because the greatest
hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does
nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
* When you get married
And your
husband is cross,
Pick up the broomstick
And say, "I'm the
boss."
