Peace My Heart

The Tree of Life, Audubon Park, New Orleans, August 2016. Photo: MBuffett

For my friend Lynda Lou… who always lit the way for me.

Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.
I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

 

In Praise of Trees – Rabindranath Tagore

Tree of Life, Audubon Park. August 2016.
Tree of Life, Audubon Park. August 2016. Photo: MBuffett

“O profound, silent tree, by restraining valour with patience, you revealed creative power in its peaceful form. Thus we come to your shade to learn the art of peace, to hear the word of silence; weighed down with anxiety, we come to rest in your tranquil blue-green shade, to take into our souls life rich, life ever juvenescent, life true to earth, life omni-victorious.”  ~From ‘In Praise of Trees’, by Rabindranath Tagore