The Truest Knowledge (Oscar Wilde)

Thou knowest all: - I seek in vain
What lands to till or sow with seed;
The land is black with briar and weed,
Nor cares for falling tears or rain.

Thou knowest all: - I sit and wait
With blinded eyes and hands that fail,
Till the last lifting of the veil
That hangs before God's holy gate.

Thou knowest all:- I cannot see;
I trust I shall not live in vain:
I know that we shall meet again
In some devine eternity.

The Wind And The Rain (Ruskin Bond)

Like the wind, I run;
Like the rain, I sing;
Like the leaves, I dance;
Like the earth, I'm still;
And in this, Lord, I do thy will.

If Mice Could Roar (Ruskin Bond)

If mice could roar
And elephant soar
And trees grow up in the sky,

If tigers could dine
On biscuits and wine,
And the fattest of folk could fly!

If pebbles could sing
And bells never ring
And teachers were lost in the post;

If tortoise could run
And losses be won
And bullies be buttered on toast,

If a song brought a shower
And a gun grew a flower,
This world would be better than most.

Lost All My Money (Ruskin Bond)

I've lost all my money,
And I'm on my way home,
Home to the hills and a field full of rocks.
Nothing in the city but a sickness of the soul,
Nothing to earn but sorrow...
I've lost all my money
And I'm on my way home,
With nothing to buy my way home...
I've lost all my money
And I can't bribe the guard,
So help me, O Lord,
On my way home...

Love (Khalil Gibran)

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions
may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth
so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height
and caresses your tenderest branches
that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots
and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
that you may become
sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you
that you may know the secrets of your heart,
and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek
only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you
that you cover your nakedness
and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh,
but not all of your laughter,
and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself
and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"
but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires,
let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook
that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer
for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips.

On Marriage (Khalil Gibran)

You were born together,
and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together
when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together
even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread
but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree
and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

It Isn't Time That's Passing (Ruskin Bond)

Remember the long ago when we lay together

In a pain of tenderness and counted

Our dreams : long summer afternoons

When the whistling-thrust released

A deep sweet secret on the trembling air;

Blackbird on the wing, bird of the forest shadows,

Black rose in the long ago summer,

This was your song:

It isn't the time that's passing by

It is you and I.

Responsibility (Charles Osgood)

There was a most important job that needed to be done,
And no reason NOT to do it, there was absolutely none.

But in vital matters such as this the thing you have to ask,
is WHO exactly will it be who’ll carry out this task.

ANYBODY could have told you that EVERYBODY knew,
that this was something SOMEBODY would surely have to do.

NOBODY was unwilling, ANYBODY had the ability,
but NOBODY thought he was supposed to be the one.

It seemed to be a job that ANYBODY could have done,
If ANYBODY thought he was supposed to be the one.

But since EVERYBODY recogized that ANYBODY could,
EVERYBODY took for granted that SOMEBODY would.

But NOBODY told ANYBODY that we are aware of,
That he would be in charge of seeing it was taken care of.

And NOBODY took it on himself to follow through and DO,
What EVERYBODY thought that SOMEBODY would do.

When what EVERYBODY needs so did not get done at all,
EVERYBODY was complaining that SOMEBODY dropped the ball.

ANYBODY then could see it was an awful crying shame,
And EVERYBODY looked around for SOMEBODY to blame.

SOMEBODY should have done the job and EVERYBODY would have,
But in the end NOBODY did what ANYBOY could have.

We Must Love Someone (Ruskin Bond)

We must love someone

If we are to justify
Our presence on this earth.

We must keep loving all our days,

Someone, anyone, anywhere
Outside our selves;

For even the sarus crane
Will grieve over its lost companion,

And the seal its mate.

Somewhere in life
There must be someone

To take your hand
And share the torrid day

Without the touch of love
There is no life and we must fade away.

The Love Of Two Stars (Ruskin Bond)

Two stars fell in Love. Between them came sky
And ten moons and two suns riding high,

Before them the nebulous star-crusted Way,
The Silence of Night, the silver of Day.

A million years passed , the lovers still glowed
With the brilliance and fire and passion of old,

But one star grew restless and set off at night
With a wonderful shower of hot whilte light.

He sped to his love, with his hopes and his fears,
But missed her, alas, by a thousand light-years.