from  The Parent's Tao Te Ching by William Martin:

"Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself."

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self

To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon

To one whole voice that is you.

And know there is more

That you can’t see, can’t hear;

Can’t know except in moments

Steadily growing, and in languages

That aren’t always sound but other

Circles of motion.

Like eagle that Sunday morning

Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky

In wind, swept our hearts clean

With sacred wings.

We see you, see ourselves and know

That we must take the utmost care

And kindness in all things.

Breathe in, knowing we are made of

All this, and breathe, knowing

We are truly blessed because we

Were born, and die soon within a

True circle of motion,

Like eagle rounding out the morning

Inside us.

We pray that it will be done

In beauty.

In beauty.

BY JOY HARJO

Nothing Happens Without You

“Should everything pass away,
it couldn’t happen without You.
This heart of mines bears Your imprint;
it has nowhere else to turn.

The eye of the intellect is drunk with You,
the wheeling galaxy is humble before You,
the ear of ecstasy is in Your hand;
nothing happens without You.

The soul is bubbling with You,
the heart imbibes from You,
the intellect bellows in rapture;
nothing happens without You.

You, my grape wine and my intoxication,
my rose garden and my springtime,
my sleep and repose;
nothing happens without You.

You are my grandeur and glory,
you are my possessions and prosperity,
you are my purest water;
nothing happens without You”

It is all Your being, Your gentle good faith or Your seemingly cruelty.
You are everything of mine;
no matter where You are going,
nothing happens without You.

They place their hearts with You,
and You break them;
they repent, You break them again.
You do all of this Yourself;
nothing happens without You.

Were something to happen without You, 
the world would be overturned. 
The Garden of Eden would turn to Hell;
nothing happens without You.

If You are a head, I'll become Your feet,
and if You are a fist, I'll become Your flag.
If You disappear, I'll turn to nothing;
nothing happens without You.

You've disturbed my sleep,
You've effaced my personality,
You've broken every attachment;
nothing happens without You.

Should You stop being my Beloved,
my affairs would be disastrous.
My Comforter, my dear Companion! 
Nothing happens without You.

Without You, life would not be delightful
nor death joyous;
how can I rebel against Your sorrow?
Nothing happens without You.

Whatever I say, O seal of judges,
all seemingly good and evil notwithstanding,
say it Yourself, by Your Grace; 
nothing happens without You.

― Rumi

There are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves

There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who prey upon them with IBM eyes
And sell their hearts and guts for martinis at noon.
There are men too gentle for a savage world
Who dream instead of snow and children and Halloween
And wonder if the leaves will change their color soon.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who anoint them for burial with greedy claws
And murder them for a merchant's profit and gain.
There are men too gentle for a corporate world
Who dream instead of candied apples and ferris wheels
And pause to hear the distant whistle of a train.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who devour them with eager appetite and search
For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry.
There are men too gentle for an accountant's world
Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass
And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves
Who toss them like a lost and wounded dove.
Such gentle men are lonely in a merchant's world,
Unless they have a gentle one to love.

Warning

Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali - his 1989 poem "Warning":

Lovers of hunting,
and beginners seeking your prey:
Don't aim your rifles
at my happiness,
which isn't worth
the price of the bullet
(you'd waste on it).
What seems to you
so nimble and fine,
like a fawn,
and flees
every which way,
like a partridge,
isn't happiness.
Trust me:
my happiness bears
no relation to happiness.

Deep Listening

What is the deep listening? Sama is a greeting from the secret ones inside the heart, a letter. The branches of your intelligence grows new leaves in the wind of this listening. The body reaches a peace. Rooster sound comes, reminding you of your love for dawn, The reed flute and the singer’s lips: The knack of how spirit breathes into us becomes as simple and ordinary as Eating and drinking. The dead rise with the pleasure of listening. If someone Can’t hear a trumpet melody, sprinkle dirt on his head and declare him dead. Listen, and feel the beauty of your separation, the unsayable absence. There’s a moon inside every human being. Learn to be companions with it. Give more of your life to this listening. As brightness is to time, so you are to the one who talks to the deep ear in your chest. I should sell my tongue and buy a thousand ears when that one steps near and begins to speak.

- Rumi

Any Morning

Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.

People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can’t
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.

Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won’t even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.

Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.

- William Stafford