Wednesday, 5 December 2007

A Tear And A Smile -Khalil Gibran

I would not exchange the sorrows of my heartfor the joys of the multitude.And I would not have the tears that sadness makesto flow from my every part turn into laughter.
I would that my life remain a tear and a smile.
A tear to purify my heart and give me understandingof life's secrets and hidden things.A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind andto be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.
A tear to unite me with those of broken heart;a smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.
I would rather that I died in yearning and longing thanthat I live weary and despairing.
I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in thedepths of my spirit,for I have seen those who aresatisfied the most wretched of people.I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and longing,and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody.
With evening's coming the flower folds her petalsand sleeps, embracingher longing.At morning's approach she opens her lips to meetthe sun's kiss.
The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment.A tear and a smile.
The waters of the sea become vapor and rise and cometogether and area cloud.
And the cloud floats above the hills and valleysuntil it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weepingto the fields and joins with brooks and rivers to returnto the sea, its home.
The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting.A tear and a smile.
And so does the spirit become separated fromthe greater spirit to move in the world of matterand pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrowand the plains of joy to meet the breeze of deathand return whence it came.
To the ocean of Love and Beauty----to God.

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