Corkers

2007-05-18T13:35:00.001-07:00

Alms for the poor

"You're still kind of dopey," Rosa told me yesterday afternoon as we were sitting down at the shopping center.

"Well, dad gave me enough medication to anesthetize a horse," I replied.

"Did it feel good?" Rosa asked, always the consummate addict.

"It just knocked me out and I slept for sixteen hours straight," I said. "I feel like a new man this afternoon."

I and Rosa watched as one very grubby old man came walking up the sidewalk. He was stopping to ask shopping center patrons for spare change and was mostly being spurned. People would hurriedly walk past him without making eye contact as if he were a leper avoiding him at all costs.

"Who's this dude?" Rosa asked me.

"I don't know," I replied. "I have never seen him before."

He finally made his way to I and Rosa.

"Senor, my car is broken down and I need some money to buy a new battery," He said in a heavy Hispanic accent. "Can you spare some?"

I reached into my wallet and gave him a five dollar bill.

"Gracias senor," he said as he shook my hand profusely and then walked off.

"You are the biggest sucker," Rosa said. "He is just going to go drink with that money."

"It's not my place to judge," I said thinking of my own homeless days. "Besides, he looked like he needed a few drinks."

Rosa was angry with me for giving that old bum money, but I didn't care. I knew from my own homeless days that little comforts such as a beer or some smokes are what make life bearable. I gave the money unconditionally and it is not my place to judge. That is one of the biggest lessons my homelessness taught me.

http://4thavenueblues.blogspot.com

Love

2007-05-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

George Herbert
http://www.poemsandlove.com/poems/love13.aspx

MY GENTLY MELTING FACE

2007-02-25T10:28:00.001-08:00

My gently melting face
Drips down the mirror
As though lies and lakes were mapped on the moon;

My gently melting face
Turns inwards,
Eating away at the beauty of youth,
Carving out age,
Holding my values to the world for all to see -

My gently melting face
Unfortunately
Is me.

http://www.richardmacwilliam.com/doesheknow.html

Here I Stand

2007-01-12T03:09:00.000-08:00

Here I stand,
Until the time
Was it a crime to see what cannot be touched
Hear voices speak words that can't be undone
Was it my fault I was invincible
To the naked eye, I am invisible
I cannot be seen
Because no one wants to see me
I am different
Different from the rest of them
So they ignore me
But I don't ignore them
No one is friendly
Why were they so blind
Because I am not them
I am only mine
I am different
But I can see
But they can't see me
I watch them fall
Divided they fall
Together they die
But here I stand
Until the end of time
Was it a crime that I was unique
Original to the human mind
I was invisible to there standards
Invisible to their lies
But as they kneel to beg
I watch them beg
But here I stand until the end of time
Was it a crime for me to live my life
A crime for wanting to survive
No one would answer
So I will wait until the end of time

(Found this on my cousin's profile on Orkut)
http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=18078223656194988419

Show me...

2007-01-12T03:05:00.000-08:00

Show me the way to home
I will carry you all the way
lend me you dreams
I will live them all today

Tell me what the wind
whispers into your ear
Share with me the secrets
that you've kept so near

Let me stay forever
in your hidden paradise,
Give me a chance to see
your world with your eyes.

- Pseudo-poet
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-gSUS22wieqjajm_Gl2P2yA--?cq=1

War and the Small Nation - Khaleel Gibran

2006-11-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

Once, high above a pasture, where a sheep and a lamb were grazing, an eagle was circling and gazing hungrily down upon the lamb. And as he was about to descend and seize his prey, another eagle appeared and hovered above the sheep and her young with the same hungry intent. Then the 2 rivals began to fight filling the sky with their fierce cries.

The sheep looked up and was much astonished. She turned to the lamb and said, "How strange, my child, that these 2 noble birds should attack one another. Is not the vast sky large enough for both of them? Pray, my little one, prey in your heart that God may make peace between your winged brothers."

And the lamb prayed in his heart.

2006-11-05T00:54:00.000-08:00

Those Hard Good-Byes

I explained to St. Peter,
I'd rather stay here,
Outside the pearly gate.

I won't be a nuisance,
I won't even bark,
I'll be very patient and wait,
I'll be here chewing on a celestial bone.

No matter how long you may be.
I'd miss you so much, if I went in alone,
It wouldn't be Heaven for me.

Anonymous

Self Help Fun

2006-11-05T00:07:00.001-08:00

Self Help Fun

Life changing Attitude

Author: John Giagkiozis

Do you really believe that there is anything in this world that is impossible?

I�m 21 and I had to grow up at accelerated rates because of multiple circumstances in my life. One of them was the divorce of my parents, my mother had no money and my father didn�t seem to care about me and my brother. And to make it clear �no money� means that we didn�t have enough even for food.

Now, I�m not saying these things so you can feel pity for me. I�m telling you because somehow I managed to survive, I found a Way.

Today I make 2000 euros a month, I know it�s not a fortune but at least I have a budget that is 4 times more than the average budget in Greece and this amount grows every minute even as I write this article. By the way my father make less money than that.

How did I manage to make it while I didn�t have a quarter of a penny in my pocket? ATTITUDE is the answer, I never ever stopped learning about anything that could be learned and that made me look like Guru in my circle of influence. Even with no money I had the most beautiful girls and the highest grades of all. When someone had a problem I was the one who solved it.

Imagine how it is like to have your own problems and the problems of others. It�s great, why? Because you get feedback from all the flanks, imagine yourself like a giant sponge whose only job is to soak information. It gives you an edge over the entire community, simply because people can�t cope with their own problems and helping you with yours is out of consideration. Can�t cope? Or so they think.

You see I wasn�t always like that till family problems �made me� take Responsibility. I had no one to rely upon except myself and to tell the truth I felt like I was Lost in complications and trouble. At that point I gave a promise to myself that no matter how many troubles I had I Would Succeed in Life. I was so determined that I slept only 3 to 4 hours a day.

What I did find out, was that the key to get what you want is ATTITUDE and not just any attitude but the right attitude. Let�s say you want to get rich, in order to get rich and successful you must behave like rich and successful people even if you are starving to death. You must believe you deserve to be rich and I don�t mean some superficial belief deep in your head, rather a strong conviction that you do deserve what you ask for.

When you have that kind of convictions and determination people will start treat you the way you deserve. It�s a weird thing but most people form an �Opinion� based on things you believe about yourself, so if you believe you are rich you will be perceived like one, if you believe you deserve to be respected you will be respected. In time those same people, will make your �false� conviction come True. The future �You� is made from the present �belief of� you.

The only restriction of what you can achieve is your Imagination. Imagine the best �YOU� in every detail and you will certainly become this �YOU�.

About the Author

John Giagkiozis Publishes Self Improvement Tips, he is dedicated helping people like You! If you�re looking for the Home Business Opportunity that will make your Dreams Come True, information and helpful support from an honest friend in the business, come by and subscribe for FREE at: http://www.success-factory.net The Life all Deserve, An Opportunity and a ChallengeFeel free to reach me at: info@success-factory.net PENDTAG ...

Leave Me, My Blamer -- Khalil Gibran

2006-09-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Leave me, my blamer,
For the sake of the love
Which unites your soul with
That of your beloved one;
For the sake of that which
Joins spirit with mothers
Affection, and ties your
Heart with filial love. Go,
And leave me to my own
Weeping heart.

Let me sail in the ocean of
My dreams; Wait until Tomorrow
Comes, for tomorrow is free to
Do with me as he wishes. Your
Laying is naught but shadow
That walks with the spirit to
The tomb of abashment, and shows
Heard the cold, solid earth.

I have a little heart within me
And I like to bring him out of
His prison and carry him on the
Palm of my hand to examine him
In depth and extract his secret.
Aim not your arrows at him, lest
He takes fright and vanish 'ere he
Pours the secrets blood as a
Sacrifice at the altar of his
Own faith, given him by Deity
When he fashioned him of love and beauty.

The sun is rising and the nightingale
Is singing, and the myrtle is
Breathing its fragrance into space.
I want to free myself from the
Quilted slumber of wrong. Do not
Detain me, my blamer!

Cavil me not by mention of the
Lions of the forest or the
Snakes of the valley, for
Me soul knows no fear of earth and
Accepts no warning of evil before
Evil comes.

Advise me not, my blamer, for
Calamities have opened my heart and
Tears have cleanses my eyes, and
Errors have taught me the language
Of the hearts.

Talk not of banishment, for conscience
Is my judge and he will justify me
And protect me if I am innocent, and
Will deny me of life if I am a criminal.

Love's procession is moving;
Beauty is waving her banner;
Youth is sounding the trumpet of joy;
Disturb not my contrition, my blamer.
Let me walk, for the path is rich
With roses and mint, and the air
Is scented with cleanliness.

Relate not the tales of wealth and
Greatness, for my soul is rich
With bounty and great with God's glory.

Speak not of peoples and laws and
Kingdoms, for the whole earth is
My birthplace and all humans are
My brothers.

Go from me, for you are taking away
Life - giving repentance and bringing
Needless words.

Love

2006-08-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Love is a condition or phenomenon of emotional primacy, or absolute value. Love generally includes an emotion of intense attraction to either another person, a place, or thing; and may also include the aspect of caring for or finding identification with those objects, including self-love. Love can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience usually felt by a person for another person. Love is commonly considered impossible to define.

The concept of love, however, is subject to debate. Some deny the existence of love. Others call it a recently invented abstraction, sometimes dating the "invention" to courtly Europe during or after the middle ages (though this is contradicted by the sizable body of ancient love poetry). Others maintain that love really exists, is not an abstraction, but is indefinable; being a quantity which is spiritual, metaphysical, or philosophical in nature. Some psychologists maintain that love is the action of lending one's "boundary" or "self esteem" to another. And others attempt to define love and apply the definition to everyday life.

Source: Wikipedia

2006-07-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

Lock me in your arms just as -
Fragrance is enveloped within the petals
Little birdies inside the warmth of feathers
Pearl inside the oyster
Image inside the mirror
Greenery in the forest
Shine within the sun
Divinity within the Lord
Soul within the human being
Heat within the fire
Smile on the lips of Mona Lisa
Sacred verses in a holy book
Days within the week and seasons within a year
Planets within the orbit
Serenity on the distant horizon
Colors within the rainbow
Innocence within the child's heart
Your image inside me
And then I will feel secure.

--- Neha Vivek

2006-07-07T03:11:00.000-07:00

I learned long time ago not to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty and besides, the pig likes it.

- Cyrus Ching

By Khalil Gibran

2006-06-27T05:02:00.000-07:00

“It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations.” "Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother." "Rest in reason; move in passion."

Still Waiting

2006-06-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

by Cuddles

I'm still waiting for your love,
still waiting for you to see
that you make my life beautiful.
You're everything to me.

Deep down I want to hurt you
if only to make you realize
that the day you walked away
tears fell from these brown eyes.

I wonder why you didn't say goodbye,
and at the same time I don't care.
I just hope you come back soon.
I'm lost without you here.

So I'm still waiting to see your face,
to once again hear you say my name,
to feel your arms hold me tight,
to feel your love for me always.

(c) Mary Barren
http://www.best-love-poems.com/poems.php?id=706793

By Khalil Gibran

2006-06-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

It is indeed misery if I stretch an empty hand to men and receive nothing; but it is hopelessness if I stretch a full hand and find none to receive.

Should you sit upon a cloud you would not see the boundary line between one country and another, nor the boundary stone between a farm and a farm.
It is pity you cannot sit upon a cloud.

When I stood a clear mirror before you, you gazed into me and saw your image.
Then you said, “I love you.”
But in truth you loved yourself in me.

I'm so tired of wanting you

2006-05-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so tired of wanting you--but I can't sleep,
I've been writing letters,
I've been licking envelopes,
I cut my tongue.

The wish keeps bleeding,
the words keep beading into meaning --
the days I've spent since our last meeting
keep begging to leap into your hands.
All the secrets that might have won your love
now crowd out between my teeth,
tumble in pathetic pleading.

I must mend myself instead,
wince and spit into a handkerchief.
It stings to speak,red on my lips.

Aren't I much more lovely like this?
Oh, wouldn't you like a kiss?

Thought!

2006-05-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

When you are in love, it means that the person you love is of great personal, selfish importance to you and to your life. If you were selfless, it would have to mean that you derive no personal pleasure or happiness from the company and the existence of the person you love, and that you are motivated only by self-sacrificial pity for that person's need of you. I don't have to point out to you that no one would be flattered by, nor would accept, a concept of that kind. Love is not self-sacrifice, but the most profound assertion of your own needs and values. It is for your own happiness that you need the person you love, and that is the greatest compliment, the greatest tribute you can pay to that person.
["Playboy's Interview with Ayn Rand," pamphlet, 7.1]

THE TWO LEARNED MEN by Khalil Gibran

2006-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Once there lived in the ancient city of Afkar two learned men who hated and belittled each other's learning. For one of them denied the existence of the gods and the other was a believer.
One day the two met in the market-place, and amidst their followers they began to dispute and to argue about the existence or the non-existence of the gods. And after hours of contention they parted.
That evening the unbeliever went to the temple and prostrated himself before the altar and prayed the gods to forgive his wayward past.
And the same hour the other learned man, he who had upheld the gods, burned his sacred books. For he had become an unbeliever.

LINES - by Sangharakshita (1946)

2006-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

From the unlocked cage of my heart
White doves of love go winging,
Wild larks of song rise singing,
The ice of my heart is broken, broken,
Joy's fountain leaps in the air;
And all the while no word was spoken:
I only looked at something fair.

Life is about change

2006-04-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Life is about change, and I adapt easily to the new.

I choose to allow all my experiences to be joyous and loving.

I relax into the flow of life and let it provide all that I need easily and comfortably.

I forgive myself and others, release the past and move forward with love in my heart.

I love and approve of myself, am at peace with my own feelings and stand tall and free.

I am strong, capable, loving and lovable and perfect just as I am.

I freely love and enjoy life, allowing it to flow through me, rejoicing in my self-expression.

I allow every moment of every day to be joyous, harmonious and loving, and I feel peace and comfort in every area of my life.

I am enthusiastic about life and create it the way I want it to be and my life gets better and filled with more energy, vitality and passion every day.

I extend love to people everyday -- little by little, task by task, gesture by gesture, word by word.

I accept Divine guidance, trust the process of life and am always safe, secure and protected by Divine Love.

I rest securely knowing that all my needs are taken care of, only right action is taking place in my life and all details take care of themselves

Love At First Sight

2006-04-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Love At First Sight
Is there such a thing as love at first sight?
That's the question I used to ask
Until I laid eyes on you.
How is it possible to feel so much for a
stranger, a passerby?
Love has no limits, no color, no time.
That's when I realized I had fallen in love -
Love at first sight.

Thought !

2006-04-02T01:33:00.000-08:00

A policy of independent thinking can bring us into conflict with the opinions of others. And then the question becomes: What matters more to you-your own perception of reality or someone elses approval? If this is not a spiritual issue, what is?

— Nathaniel Branden

YOU SMILED By Walter Savage Landor

2006-03-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

You smiled, you spoke and I believed,
By every word and smile - deceived.

Another man would hope no more;
Nor hope I - what I hoped before.

But let not this last wish be vain;
Deceive, deceive me once again!

A Creed For Those Who Have Suffered

2006-01-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey …

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things …

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise …

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God …

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things …

I got nothing I asked for – but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I, among all men, am most richly blessed!

IF YOU THINK

2005-12-28T05:52:00.000-08:00

If you think you are beaten you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t!
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you will lose, you’re lost;
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise’
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER - By Gary Jacobson

2005-12-28T05:49:00.000-08:00

There is a green hill far away.
Life is better there,
So people say.
The skys are always fair,
Never cloudy,
Never gray.
People breathe good clean air.
Life is happy and gay.

There children are always smarter
There
People are simply cleaner
There
There is no crime
There
Polite all the time.
There
Where the green grass grows greener.
The weather's perfectly sublime.
The pretty people stay pretty much leaner,
And they don't allow sweat.
The good life's all play,
So people live happier there I bet,
Life one big party every day.

Can you tell me perchance,
Why is the grass always greener
On the other side of the fence?
Is life there always sweeter?
People are always saying it,
When things don't go exactly right,
So it must be true a bit.
People see greener pastures with psychic sight.

It's a crying shame life where you are,
Isn't always greener.
You could surely go far,
If love and romance weren't always leaner.
If you just weren't where you are,
On the wrong side of the fence...

But you don't stand a chance,
With true love or money,
Always losing your honey,
To the guy on the other side of the fence.
Who always has it better.
The guy on that side of the fence,
Always is living on an easy street finer,
Finer than where you are,
Always living subpar...

On the other side of the fence
There's always true and abiding romance.
Girls and wives are always prettier,
Men and husbands handsomer,
Children athletically and intellectually superior,
Neighbors friendlier,
Homes and yards nicer,
Making money easier,
Jobs better.
The world simply rosier...
And all because the grass is greener,
Than on your poor side of the fence.

While those on the "rightside" of the fence
Live in the pink,
Wrong siders clean the drain in the sink.
Hence I say in abject pain
And deepest sorrow,
Those poor souls on the wrongside of the fence,
Will never see a brighter tomorrow.

Some unlucky shmucks are always caught,
Wrongside of that capricious fence,
Always and forever in the wrong spot.
But let me tell you this,
Wrongsiders must be kind of dense,
Wherever they go always to wind up,
Wrong side of the cotton pickin' fence.

Perchance,
Life just hasn't given wrongsiders a chance,
On that other side where life's not greener,
Where things look a little leaner...
A whole lot meaner.

Must be some kind of Karmic penance,
In my heart I feel a kind of reverence,
For unfortunates always stuck in a rut,
Always on the wrong side of that evil fence...

It must give special pain
To see those on the other side naturally attain,
Always wearing shining good luck enhanced
Just because... On the "right" side they're fenced.

Right siders are surely blessed
With the sweet things in life
By soft summer breezes carressed.
Wrong siders face bitter toil and strife,
Their whole sorry, deprived life.

Wonder what would happen if by chance
Over that wicked fence
Wrongsiders gaily dance?
Would rainbows sprout in every backyard?
Would fortune and fame fall from the sky?
Would dreary lives suddenly seem not so hard?
Would crab grass die?
Would pimples go away?
Would sweet life seem like apple pie?
Would we get everything for which we pray?
Would only beauty greet our eye?
Would wrongside guys now get the girl
The've been chasing every day?
Would girls get the guy?
What might happen
Without that arbitrary fence?

Would bad luck come to former rightsiders,
Now suddenly wrongside,
Relegated to darkside vengeance?
Would good fortune now fall to wrongsiders
Now "rigthtsiders"
Of that pernicious fence?

No no, don't say it,
How can it be?
how can you even suggest it,
Such a despicable thing to me?
You claim people making the lame excuse
The wrong side of the fence did them in,
Complaining life should be greener
On their side of the fence,
Are simply complainers,
Looking for any excuse in a hand-bag of weiners.

You say people should learn good luck,
Comes to him who earns it.
You'll never have bad luck,
Because on the wrong side of the fence you sit.
Good luck is hard work,
And good deeds clean,
Is what makes a persons lot in life
Green.

The Road Not Taken - By Robert Frost

2005-12-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20