Thursday, July 07, 2005

Bless that One Hour!




THE PLAYGROUND OF LIFE (an excerpt)

One hour devoted to the pursuit of Beauty
And Love is worth a full century of glory
Given by the frightened weak to the strong.

From that hour comes man's Truth; and
During that century Truth sleeps between
The restless arms of disturbing dreams.

In that hour the soul sees for herself
The Natural Law, and for that century she
Imprisons herself behind the law of man;
And she is shackled with irons of oppression.

That hour was the inspiration of the Songs
Of Solomon, and that century was the blind
Power which destroyed the temple of Baalbek.

That hour was the birth of the Sermon on the
Mount, and that century wrecked the castles of
Palmyra and the tower of Babylon.
*
One hour devoted to mourning and lamenting the
Stolen equality of the weak is nobler than a
Century filled with greed and usurpation ...



Best known in the West for THE PROPHET, the Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) began writing in Boston at the age of 12, considered the U.S. his "adopted country," and is known throughout the world for the beauty and precision of his Arabic and English poetry and prose. His prints have been compared to William Blake's. "The Playground of Life" is excerpted from Gibran's book, TEARS AND LAUGHTER.

PEACE.

-- HeartSleeve