The World Exists As A Sheen Of Dew On Flowers

Come quickly -- as soon as these blossoms open, they fall. 

This world exists as a sheen of dew on flowers.
~Izumi Shikibu, mid-Heian period Japanese poet

Tags: Blossoms, Open, Fall, World, Exists, Sheen, Dew, Flowers, 

[GMW #2829]

Plant A Tree, Train A Flower, Sow A Field

Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; who

sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.
~ John Greenleaf Whittier

Tags: John Greenleaf Whittier, Fools, Gold, Knaves, Power, Fortune, Rise, Fall, Sow, Field, Flower, Plant, Tree, More, All

[GMW #3031]

Mother To Son

Well, Son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.

But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now –
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
~ Langston Hughes

Tags: Langston Hughes, Mother, Son, Life, Stair, Crystal, Climb, Turn, Dark, Light, Steps, Fall, Honey,

[GMW #2969]