Khalil Gibran

Laws XIII

Then a lawyer said, "But what of our Laws, master?"

And he answered:

You delight in laying down laws,

Yet you delight more in breaking them.

Like children playing by the ocean who build sand-towers with constancy and then destroy them with laughter.

But while you build your sand-towers the ocean brings more sand to the shore,

And when you destroy them, the ocean laughs with you.

Verily the ocean laughs always with the innocent.

But what of those to whom life is not an ocean, and man-made laws are not sand-towers,

But to whom life is a rock, and the law a chisel with which they would carve it in their own likeness?

What of the cripple who hates dancers?

What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things?

What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?

And of him who comes early to the wedding-feast, and when over-fed and tired goes his way saying that all feasts are violation and all feasters law-breakers?

What shall I say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, but with their backs to the sun?

They see only their shadows, and their shadows are their laws.

And what is the sun to them but a caster of shadows?

And what is it to acknowledge the laws but to stoop down and trace their shadows upon the earth?

But you who walk facing the sun, what images drawn on the earth can hold you?

You who travel with the wind, what weathervane shall direct your course?

What man's law shall bind you if you break your yoke but upon no man's prison door?

What laws shall you fear if you dance but stumble against no man's iron chains?

And who is he that shall bring you to judgment if you tear off your garment yet leave it in no man's path?

People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing?

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Ocean Man

Ocean man, take me by the hand, lead me to the land that you understand
Ocean man, the voyage to the corner of the globe is a real trip
Ocean man, the crust of a tan man embibed by the sand
Soaking up the thirst of the land
Ocean man, can you see through the wonder of amazement at the oberman
Ocean man, the crust is elusive when it casts forth to the childlike man
Ocean man, the sequence of a life form braised in the sand,
Soaking up the thirst of the land
Ocean man, ocean man
Ocean man
[repeat verses]
Ocean man

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The Inner Voice - Conscience

Laws on earth can be made, unmade;
Laws can be bettered or worsened by change;
Laws may be just or unjust and never perfect;
Laws can be changed for comfort and convenience.

Laws may change from time to time;
Laws cannot reflect truth always;
Laws depend on the constituent makers;
Laws can never be ideal for all times!

But the inner Voice -the Conscience is static;
It always speaks the truth irrevocably;
It is not transmutable anytime;
It can never lie ever even by chance.

The Inner Voice scores over laws always;
One's conscience always tells what is right;
Freedom of man's conscience is paramount;
Laws to stifle the Inner Voice are simply futile!

Laws are needed but must be just and fair;
Laws aren't needed to fetter the conscience;
Laws are man-made and transmutable;
Conscience is God-given, remaining the same in everyone!

Obey the laws when they are fair and just;
Heed to your Conscience, God's law-maker within!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 14-02-12

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Ocean Breakers

She went to water;
she always did.

The heaving ocean
matched her heavy breathing;

it was a Ocean of Tears
like hers.

The swells crash
against the shore
relentlessly;
life was relentless too.

The foam;

Anger in the Water that day.

She went to water
she always did,

moving among the sand dunes,

face against the wind.

The sea gulls overhead;
caw! caw! caw!

She lifts her arms,
the wind blows her sleeves
making a flapping sound;

she could hear whispers
between the breakers,

she could hear weeping
among the retreating waves.

She stood there
on the Edge of Forever.

There is no end to the ocean.

Every day it calls to the Sun
and makes it rise.
.
Every night it extinguishes it.

She could walk to China;
she could
and no one would know;
no one would know.

The voice said
'I thought I would find you here'

Waves crashing
more soothing now
two tracks in the sand.

Sad swells
rise again
and retreat;

time and ocean breaks
bring them back together again.

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Mark Twain

Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment.

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The Laws of God, The Laws of Man

The laws of God, the laws of man,
He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbor to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.

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The Laws That Man Made On Earth

the laws that man made on earth are like sandcastles.
and the men who made them are like children
playing on the beach one summer's day.
each hand takes a mouthful of sand and
forms the minarets and walls and doors of
the castle. A path for their prince. A stable
for their horses. A special chamber for the
king and queen. A training ground for their
warriors and soldiers to protect them.
A court for their counsels and judges.
Every structure geared to protect self-interest.

the laws and sandcastles. The men who made them
are the children on the beach. And here comes God
the Big Wave, and in an instant, on a single wash of
its mighty hand, or tongue, or cape, all these laws are
washed away.

Then the afternoon comes. The sun sets. The children
go home and sleep.

Tomorrow is another play. Another game. Another sandcastles.
Nearby the waves keep looking.

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Shadows And Light

Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight
The perils of benefactors
The blessings of parasites
Blindness, blindness and sight
Threatened by all things
Devil of cruelty
Drawn to all things
Devil of delight
Mythical devil of the ever-present laws
Governing blindness, blindness and sight
Suntans in reservation dining rooms
Pale miners in their lantern rays
Night, night and day
Hostage smile on presidents
Freedom scribbled in the subway
Its like night, night and day
Threatened by all things
God of cruelty
Drawn to all things
God of delight
Mythical God of the everlasting laws
Governing day, day and night
Critics of all expression
Judges in black and white
Saying its wrong, saying its right
Compelled by prescribed standards
Or some ideals we fight
For wrong, wrong and right
Threatened by all things
Man of cruelty-mark of cain
Drawn to all things
Man of delight-born again, born again
Man of the laws, the ever-broken laws
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Wrong and right

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Shadows & Light

Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight
The perils of benefactors
The blessings of parasites
Blindness, blindness and sight
Threatened by all things
Devil of cruelty
Drawn to all things
Devil of delight
Mythical devil of the ever-present laws
Governing blindness, blindness and sight
Suntans in reservation dining rooms
Pale miners in their lantern rays
Night, night and day
Hostage smile on presidents
Freedom scribbled in the subway
Its like night, night and day
Threatened by all things
God of cruelty
Drawn to all things
God of delight
Mythical God of the everlasting laws
Governing day, day and night
Critics of all expression
Judges in black and white
Saying its wrong, saying its right
Compelled by prescribed standards
Or some ideals we fight
For wrong, wrong and right
Threatened by all things
Man of cruelty-mark of cain
Drawn to all things
Man of delight-born again, born again
Man of the laws, the ever-broken laws
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Wrong and right

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But black people fall for that same argument, and they go around talking about law breakers. We did not make the laws in this country. We are neither morally nor legally confined to those laws. Those laws that keep them up, keep us down.

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Ocean Blue

Well you took me home
And you took me back
But deep down inside
The feeling just died and i
Couldnt see why
From indigo to royal blue
I travel far but no one will do
Anytime, anyplace
Every shape every face
Brings memories of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Fair weather friends might drift away
When summer ends and skies burn grey
So I walk to the ocean
Pilot these shores
Just thinking of you
Its time we kissed the clouds goodbye
From now on its strictly blue sky
Come rain and shine
The outlook is still fine
Im thinking of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean ocean
Ocean, ocean
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
I stand at the head of the queue
Theres mutinys every crew
Wishin and wonderin bout you
Ocean blue

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Fire In The Sky

heat light sunlight
particle wave energy
radiant solar wind

heat light sunlight
flowing from globe sun
these critical parts

fuel for an ecosystem

sun's gift heat
helps water evaporate
return to atmosphere

evaporate purify
cycled back
into purer water

sun's gift heat
helps keep plants
helps keep animals
blanket warm

without light
light gift from sun
there cannot be

there is no
photosynthesis
plants destitute

would not
have energy
needed

to make food
volcanic vents
on ocean floor

supply energy
but not scale
photosynthesis

fire in the sky
supplies oceans
life energy

photosynthesis
at sea on land
is ocean gift life

science creation in harmony
nature’s laws are God’s laws
interlocking interrelated laws

harmony is balance in creation

are we not all parts of creation?


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Mentally Attacked

Whoever commits sin on this earth also transgresses the laws!
For sin is the transgression of the laws.
Prophecy,
Several,
Different;
But mentally attacked are the ways of mankind! !
And like the ways we do things on this earth,
But the laws are there for us all to obey and become perfect.

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Sonnet: Laws Are For All

No one on earth can be above the law;
But laws are not the same for man world-o’er;
When lawmakers break laws, it causes awe;
Yet, criminals must get jud’cial cover.

But laws, vary from time to time you see,
And innocents to gallows could sent;
Can all afford the exorbitant fees?
Delaying justice can produced a dent.

But corruption has gained mighty in-roads;
And not a field is spared from its illness;
The world is filled by spineless man like toads;
Cities and towns too look like wilderness.

No soul on earth can be above the law;
And yet, men make the laws sometimes so raw.

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The Ocean! xx

The ocean is a mystery!
The ocean is a surprise!
The ocean is beautiful!
The ocean is a huge monster!
The ocean is never ending!
The ocean is silent!
The ocean is noisy!
The ocean is a time traveller!
The ocean is all about a distance!
The ocean is love!
The ocean is enjoyable!
The ocean is a godsend!

The Ocean is a winner! ! ! ! xx

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Ocean is as one with the world

As I Stare out into the Sea,
I can feel the soft oceans breeze
the warmth from the sun
the grass dances with the whistling wind
the ocean is filled with thoughts
and mysteries,
I feel the cool water
the ocean is alive filled with lost souls
washing emotions up onto the shore
My feet sink in the softness of the sand
The ocean is made up of dreams
and achievements,
My mind lies in the heart of the ocean
The rocks are bones
Out in the open the waves settle and
wait for their attack,
I feel as one with the ocean
as the ocean feels like one
with the world.

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I've Come Down to the Ocean

I've come down to the ocean;
The ocean great and wide,
Of pure blue span
And soft white sand
And the beach's crashing tide.

I've come down to the ocean;
The sea so black and queer
Of lightless dark
And fiercest shark,
Where even fearless fear.

I've come down to the ocean;
The waters I can't grasp,
Of strangest deep,
And sunless sleep,
Where the breathing may not gasp.

I've come down to the ocean;
To sing its sea-spray song,
Of salty brine
And waves that shine
Before I've been too long.

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Dark the shadows haunt the night

If I began to cry
The tears would never end
If I lowered my guard
Then how could I defend?

From every side the walls close in
And there is no place that you could stand
That would hide you from this world
And all that it demands

Whoever said that life was fair
Has not lived long enough
When the path takes you along the edge
You'll see them fall off the bluff

But the problem is
If your guard is high
You will wither away
And begin to die

How could something so small
Cast such a shadow on the land?
How was it that it stood so tall
Yet it was just a grain of sand?

I made my way through this world
With the Sun forever at my back
And the shadows went before me
And the shadow it was black

One grain of sand in my eye
Tormented me for many years
And I could never hope to fly
For I was blinded by my fears

Then Jesus came and turned me round
To face the rising Sun
His light it shone upon my face
And my journey had begun

When you walk into the Son
The shadows fall behind
The Sun removes the grain of sand
Now you're no longer blind

Who is your grain of sand my child
That made you stumble, made you fall?
In the light of Christ perhaps you'll find
That persons not so very tall

Dark the shadows haunt the night
That cause you to run and hide
Look to the Son that shines so bright
And He will shine that light inside

O to be filled with the light of Christ
And see the shadows disappear
To lift my eyes to heavens heights
And finally to shed a tear

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The ocean births the infants

The ocean births the infants
Just like you or me;
The tide tears free umbilici
And blots them, with seaweed.

The ocean bathes the babies
In rivulets green and blue;
And scrubs them gently too, with sand
Just like we might do.

The ocean rocks the children
To sleep, in stormy seas;
Then whirls them down, to deeper depths-
Where they are never seen.

The ocean buries children
Without one word or tear,
And leaves their hapless bodies
To schools of mermaids there.

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Pacific ocean love pt.2

I went to the ocean
for a day
the waves and the sand
kept melancholy at bay

soaking and burning
in this salt
water pot
cleansing my soul
when God would not

my life
in pieces
scattered across
a barren land

I was baptized
in the Ocean
where the heavens
meet the sand

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Your Own Lives

The truth is from the Laws,
For, the Laws are Spirit!
But, some of you still do not believe it;
And, you want to live your won lives here on this earth.

The Commandments are Holy,
Just and Righteous! !
So, believe in them and live;
For, only the doesrs of the laws are Justified.

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