Writing in Snow

Friday: July 21, 2017

Istiqlál (Independence), 10 Kalimát (Words) 174 Badi - Friday, July 21, 2017 CE

"O thou who are firm in the Covenant! Be thou firm in the Cause and be engaged in service. Awaken the souls and make mindful the (heedless) minds. The spiritual outpouring will become uninterrupted and the meetings of heart to heart constant. Rest thou assured upon the favor and bounty of the Beauty of Abha."

‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1’)1

I am engaged in service to the Cause by writing 200 poems dedicated to The Blessed Beauty. For the past week or so, I have been so focused on writing those poem that I have let a couple of writing projects slide. I need to finish an activity or essay for "Invalid Item"  by Sunday 8:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time. I also have to finish a story I started for "Rhythms & Writing: Official WDC Contest"  before July 31 at 8:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time. I also have to review a few items each day, so I'll have to change the weekly goals until October 22 or before (if I complete the 200 poems before the bicentenary celebration of Baha'u'llah's birth.

Silence2

Silence whispers to my soul,
Unobtrusively it tones,
Recall my mind to my goal,
When the scriptures I intone.

Silence echoes in my mind,
Speaks to me in shades of light,
About my faith in my kind;
About my concept of right.

Silence is the secret key,
That unlocks the door of self,
That reveals the secret me,
Locked in the prison of self.

Whispers echo through my mind,
That intone matter's violence,
Echoes running through my mind,
That sacred scriptures silence.

I cleaned out the right bottom drawer of my computer desk yesterday. Inside the drawer I found several poem which were unfinished or needed rewriting. I'm going to place the rewrites or the unfinished poems I can't immediately work on in one of my journal.

Personalities of Trees3

Trees have personalities,
The tall and stately palm
Intones Psalms.

The following poem was written on March 10, 1986. I don't know what inspired the poem or made me feel hopeless that particular day. The one thing I'm sure of right now is that writing poetry helps dispel depression.

Nothingness

When hope is gone,
And dream are lost,
A nothingness consumes the mind,
A nothingness that is filled
With fear, and hate, and sadness.

When hope returns,
And dreams are reborn,
The nothingness will perish,
And on wings of faith and hope,
We'll fly, toward our destiny.

Footnotes
1  Counsels and Explanations by 'Abdu'l-Baha -- Daily Readings for July 19, 2017.
2  Originally written in 151 Badi (1995 or 1996).
3  Originally written in 1995 or 1996.}