of what is it that you desire?...

'the quiet one within'

mixed media

by sweetmango

I don't know who I am. I'm your own voice echoing off the walls of God". Rumi

'of what is it that you desire?' 
he asked himself
'why i simply desire love.'
'in what manner' he inquired further
'in the manner of all things'
'i am not sure i understand' he said frowning
'i desire freedom from hatred toward all,
therefore i desire love.
i desire a peaceful calmness to the existence of all,
therefore i desire love.
i desire wisdom and understanding,
therefore i desire love.
i desire plenty and enough so that all may have what is required,
therefore i desire love.
'ahhhh' he said nodding sagely
'you  wish to become a gardener then?'
and the two men, the one and the same
chuckled with gleeful mirth
'yes, i do believe you are right', he said to himself
'i wish to become a gardener of the soul
where i may cultivate the seeds of love
and watch them grow tall
and in the late afternoons i will sit 
under the overhanging branches of love
resting in the shadows of compassion
and i will breath deeply of universal understanding.
my garden will produce enough 
and I will always have plenty to share
as i spend my eternities in peaceful calmness
beneath the shade of love'.
and he smiled at himself
as he once again sat beneath the bodhi tree
contemplating 
nothing.

within you are the answers to all you seek. you already know the answers to all of your questions.  inside of you there are no questions, only knowledge, profound and absolute knowledge. look with the eyes of love, hear with the ears of love, feel with hands of love and in all things be as the quiet one within, be still, be loving, be present, be.

xxsm

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Of breezes and oceans and unchartered continents and of those who are keepers of lovers hearts...

You’ll be the lost continent i chart

in the deepest of the darkest waters
i’ll map out your skin with my fingertips
in the deepest of the darkest nights.

by stellan

I love you Stellan.  

You know the songs of my heart because 
my heart sings to the rhythm of your heart.

One day I awoke to hear you speaking to my heart, you said,
"i want to caress you like a tropical breeze and float away with you in a caribbean sea"
and my life became devoid of all else in that moment
i existed only for you, because we both realised that we
were halves made whole within each others hearts
i reached out to you across the universe
through the fabric of time and space and 
wrapped a tendril of your love around my finger
and beckoning to you, I turned and raced with the comets
you smiled and I gave birth to the breath of my soul.
How is it my love that wherever you walk flowers appear
as if the very essence of your being drips into the ground
delicately coaxing the very idea of love 
back into everything that pulses with the promise of life?
The winds blew from the four corners of the earth,
their power as they crossed my back 
bent my head, heavy with desire 
and it was then that i realised you stood behind me and 
that you were indeed the wind
that it was your fingers writing sonnets of longing across 
my bare skin, your lips that created silken rivers of desire.
My love, before you i was a child who knew nothing
now i understand secrets that are written in the branches of trees
i hear whispers in the setting sun
I am wise, for now i understand, 
that truly, i know nothing
except that knowing you has left my soul 
as peaceful as a cloud drifting upon 
the endless blue of eternal possibilities.

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Peace Man, Lady, Boy, Girl....

Photographic digital art

by sweetmango

Peace was a man who refused to fight
another man
because when he looked at him
he was surprised to see
himself.

Peace was a woman who raised her weary body
from the hard packed earth on which she
slept with her children
she smiled at them and told them that everything was
going to be ok, and she believed it with her whole heart.

Peace was a little boy who
after losing his soccer match
was the first to walk up to each of the winning team
and congratulate them on how well they played
and then did the same to his own team mates.

Peace was a little girl
who took time out each day
to stop and talk to the old lady
who lived alone 5 houses up from her school
because she thought the old lady had pretty white hair.

Peace is
just a choice  we make 
each and every second of  each and every day


Today is International Peace Day :)


You can affect great change in this world just by looking everyone in the eye, acknowledging their presence and smiling at their soul.....just a thought for today xxsm

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A Quiet One left us...

Dear Sheldon

I heard you leaving

I stayed awake until I knew you were home.

I love you

xxsm

Love beyond Love going out to Jacqui and Renee and all of their families.

The Quiet Ones

a poem for Sheldon

and for everyone.

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The Quiet Ones...

        

       

      

she speaks for the quiet ones

mixed media and acrylic

gallery wrap canvas

1.5m high x 1.00m wide

59.1"high x 39.4"wide

by sweetmango

...and said God, it should be known

that i send many to the earth

helpers who walk among you in silence

peaceful warriors, who are  

so quiet and calm in their being

that the beating of the butterfly's wings

becomes in comparison a deafening roar

they are the sacred ones 

who speak for the quiet ones

their words are not heard so much as seen

in their actions or sometimes in 

their lack of action, 

sometimes their quiet presence is all that is needed

to make change

when my speakers of the truth have spoken

and when they have made a difference

i gift them with wonders to behold 

wonders to store in the heart

and comfort the soul 

i send them arching rainbows

that span heaven and earth

to remind them that heaven is

right here right now

that even in the darkest moments

i will shine a light for them to follow 

a light that will guide their hearts

that i will reach out to them

in the creation of moments

that linger within the space

of the soul

but these messages i send are 

to be shared with all 

the quiet ones know the truth

but others will mistake my actions

they will feel my fingers brush against them 

yet mistake me for a branch

they will feel my tears fall upon 

their hunched shoulders

yet mistake me for the rain

they will feel my love radiate at them

yet mistake me for the smile of a stranger

they will hear my happiness all around them

yet mistake me for the laughter of the small children

they will gaze in wonder at the vastness of my being

yet mistake me for a mountain range

they will touch me many times a day

yet mistake me for the grass and sand

they will hear whispers of my love for them 

yet mistake me for the wind

they will know my truths, all of them

yet forget them when they wake

they will look into my eyes every single day

yet believe that they gaze at their own reflection in the mirror

but the silent ones will know

and they will teach with a great silence

of peaceful being that will deafen the multitudes

into questioning quiet.

and then there will be no mistaking who i am

or where i am

or that i care. 

i care 

i did not create the days that bring you to your knees

but i will be beside you on my knees

and when you cry until you feel like you cant breath

that is because i am holding you so very close to me

my love wrapped around you until you can hardly draw breath

and when you feel like your heart is

being ripped out of your chest

you need to know that the only reason it isn't

is because i am holding both pieces in my hands

holding them together with love

until you are ready to hold your own heart again

and when you feel like you never have the energy to rise up again

know that it is my arms you are falling into 

my chest you lean against

my arms that hold you pinned to me while you grieve for your losses

and only when i think you are strong enough will 

i allow you to stand on your own two feet again.

and 

there will 

come a time

when you will fly again

when all is perfect and possible and serene and quiet and joyfully loud

and at that time 

remember the quiet ones 

become one of the quiet ones

and use your silent voice

to lift up those that have fallen.

and God's eyes closed

and i slept.

for Sheldon who I have loved since the minute my sister friend Renee first told me tales about him. You are one of the quiet ones Sheldon and I hear your whispers in my heart, the love that is felt for you by so many is dwarfed by the love you give to all around you. Your heart is so big that I can hear it beating from a million miles away, it is like a drumbeat from heaven calling us home. You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.  

Also for Jacqui and Renee and all their families, I know that you hear his heart beating the same way I do and that the way it beats is so beautiful that when you are near him it brings tears to your eyes, the reason that happens is because God is now singing in time to the beating of his heart, so Sheldon please don't mind their tears, you see, true beauty, in its purest form has always brought mere mortals to tears, we cannot help it, none of us can. Thank you Sheldon for just being.

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Drift Deep...

Drift

Today
today i want to fly
past lonely craving mountains
crags entangled in the sky
snow hung valleys
drifting up on high
across the rolling plains
where the dancing wind does sigh.

Deep

Desire born of longing
runs a river through my soul
i drift to you on the moonlight
my breath becomes hands
searching for your scent
i hear the sound of a waterfall close by
i lie on my back, closing my eyes
and ride the trembling notes of a flute
the wind rinses my soul clean
until there is no more
than me
yet
still deep in my heart
i feel your breath as
you whisper secrets into
my most secret places
you speak to me so slowly
hauntingly, tantalizing every fibre of my being
until finally i understand
with great and intense certainty
i open my mouth to cry
out fly the dreams of my soul
released to the ether of your mind

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two by two...

blue summers day

photographic art

by sweetmango

of poetry and love

neruda was my first love
his words wrapped around my heart
floating off the pages
the reasons we were apart

alphonsina sang to me
the ocean drew us near
yet even though i felt you close
each night i shed a tear

one afternoon

photographic art

by sweetmango

of souls that sigh

there was a lake
near the edge of the sun
the fractured shimmers
dancing off its crystalline surface
pierced my eyes through
so i turned away for a moment
and there you were
standing behind me
your hand resting on my soul
i thought you were not real
but you smiled
and that little gap in the front
of your perfect teeth
made everything else seem
incomplete
the wind blew from behind you
and your hair swayed to
its sensual rhythm
and i fell backwards
and drowned in desire
but was saved
by your longing
it was then that you kissed me
and i forgot
and in forgetting
you remembered
and while our lips touched
you whispered to my heart
wait for me,
im looking for us.
night fell with swift certainty
and you turned me around
to face the lake
your hands on my shoulders
your lips on my neck
dont forget
your mouth sighed its message
across my back
i sighed
and so did the wind
and the birds flying overhead
repeated 'wait for me'
so i did
and i am

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Run...

"Ghost Dance" 

by sweetmango

acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

There was a time faded into the recess of memory now

when the prairie ran before me, feet raising dust

hair held back by wind and speed and dark in the sun

father sun touched my back with warm hands, a familiar friend

I would lift my voice to the sky and sing to Wakan Tanka

in praise for all around me, all before me, all who had walked behind me

we would all stand and raise our voices, our spirits and our feet

in gratitude to life, our life, all life

we sat on the ground to be closer to her, our mother

the eagle would cry, haunting notes drifting to the bending grass from on high

the earth teemed with our animal brothers and sisters

trees like arrows pointing to the big blue sky.

I was strong, I was a part of everything, the circle was whole

the pipe was smoked and passed

now the circle is broken and the people, all the people, wander, lost

some remember running strong and free, their hearts whisper the stories

they find it hard to sit when they do not sit upon their mother earth

they find it hard to live without giving thanks

they drown in a world that has too much yet not enough

they dream of the prairie running before them

I dream of the prairie running before me

and i miss looking into the eyes of my people

Mieylo (it is I)

Mieylo (it is I)

Mieylo (it is I)

for the Lakhota people

for my friends who read this blog

and all the peoples of the world.

Wakan Takan (Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka in the Lakhota language) 

is the term for the "sacred" or the "divine". It is often translated as "The Great Spirit". However, its meaning is closer to "Great Mystery" as Lakota spirituality is not monotheistic. Before the attempted conversion to Christianity, Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka was used to refer an organization of sacred entities whose ways were mysterious; thus the mean

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