Sunday, May 13, 2007

Human and Divine

So, I'm browsing through my poetry files, looking for poems I'm going to submit and those I'm going to revise. I've got a lot of writing files and although they're labeled clearly, I'm beginning to get overwhelmed by different versions of poems, trying to remember what's been published and where, and some of the people and things I'd forgotten about. In one of the files, I scroll past the following quote and it calls me to return to it:

“No revolution in outer things is possible without prior revolution in one’s inner way of being. Whatever change you aspire to in your affairs must be preceded by a change in heart, an active deepening and strengthening of your resolve to meet every event with equanimity, detachment, and innocent goodwill. When this spiritual poise is achieved within, magnificent things are possible without.”

Hexagram 49 – KO—The I Ching or Book of Changes: A guide to Life’s Turning Points by Brian Browne Walker

This is what life is like. As I live from one day to the next, I shake my head, am outraged, get to the point of being through with certain situations, and alternately am able to smile and find peace within. The poems often lead me to peace. By writing and reading my poems and reading and listening to the words of others, I'm reminded that we are human and we are divine; a precious duality.

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