We read the world wrong...'...worse than that...
Yes – we read the world wrong,
and say that it deceives us,
said Tagore…
just imagine, if the snake said,
you can’t see me… no, I’m just
a stick of rotting wood,
a length of old rope thrown away,
mouldering in the undergrowth…
or the rope said, I’m reborn!
I’m now a snake, I’ve risen in intelligence
and consciousness – watch out, all those
who treated me so harshly as a rope...
or the shell said, how beautiful I am!
I’m mirrored all like silver;
once I was a humble shell,
content to be myself; now -
how precious now I am!
Or the silver coin said,
I’ll hide here in the sand
and look like mother-of-pearl, nacreous,
and wait to give myself
to some delighted beggar…
how virtuous I am; and how
rewarded I shall be!
no, Nature, prakriti, has never learned
from Man, how to deceive…
ah, but mankind… how we deceive
our mother, Nature… we promised her
we would look after her in her old age…
but all we did was steal her wealth,
cast her into a filthy wilderness,
pretend to others that
she never was of our family
but an untouchable who works for us…
oh Rabindranath, what would you think
of the behaviour of your grand-children…
oh Rabindranath, you never guessed
how we’ve deceived our world…
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Related quotes
Tagore and the cobra of illusion
Yes – we read the world wrong,
and say that it deceives us,
said Tagore…
just imagine, if the snake said,
you can’t see me… no, I’m just
a stick of rotting wood,
a length of old rope thrown away,
mouldering in the undergrowth…
or the rope said, I’m reborn!
I’m now a snake, I’ve risen in intelligence
and consciousness – watch out, all those
who treated me so harshly as a rope...
or the shell said, how beautiful I am!
I’m mirrored all like silver;
once I was a humble shell,
content to be myself; now -
how precious now I am!
Or the silver coin said,
I’ll hide here in the sand
and look like mother-of-pearl, nacreous,
and wait to give myself
to some delighted beggar…
how virtuous I am; and how
rewarded I shall be!
no, Nature, prakriti, has never learned
from Man, how to deceive…
ah, but mankind… how we deceive
our mother, Nature… we promised her
we would look after her in her old age…
but all we did was steal her wealth,
cast her into a filthy wilderness,
pretend to others that
she never was of our family
but an untouchable who works for us…
oh Rabindranath, what would you think
of the behaviour of your grand-children…
oh Rabindranath, you never guessed
how we’ve deceived our world…
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Illusion and ignorance
To mistake a rope for a snake
Or to mistake a snake for a rope
Is illusion in perception.
To take a rope for rope and
A snake for snake is knowledge.
To take a rope not for a rope
And a snake not for a snake
Is ignorance. We employ
All the three at variant times
At different degrees in life.
29.042010
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.
aphorism by Rabindranath Tagore from Stray Birds (1916), translated by Rabindranath Tagore

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Rope hair woman
Rope hair woman
Where you’re off to tonight
Rope hair woman
You’re lookin’ out of sight
O rope hair woman
I love with all my might
Rope hair woman if you could if you can
Let me be your dread lock man.
Dread lock man
Can you understand
That a rope hair woman
Does all that she can
To move you to that sexual point
Better then your hand
O rope hair woman
Here is my plain
Rope hair woman I will give
Up my womanly man
O rope hair woman
The world can understand
That you want a dread lock man.
poem by David E. Patton

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Jumping Rope
We are jumping rope together
we are jumping rope together
unwinding naughty knots of tether
we are jumping rope together
We are jumping rope together
we are skipping beats together
pouting panting chasing chants
unraveling rigid wraps to sever
We are jumping rope together
we are jumping rope together
jointly jogging jagged breath
suddenly we
sneeze!
poem by Randy Resh

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An aside on the Vedanta Paribhasha of Dharmaraja Adhvarindra
A child with shining eyes,
eyes as alert as any wild creature
guarding its life; free as a human child
who’s loved and watched for,
walks along the beach. In the morning sun
shells, newly washed by the receding tide,
sparkle in the morning sun.
A distant sparkle, noted among many,
continues to sparkle. Bend down and pick it up,
sandy, a dropp of water held in perfect curve;
is it a shell, nacreous in many shades
as it’s lifted to the light, beautiful as if
the Creator had made it only at the dawn today?
or is it a silver dish from that liner that went down,
shaped as a shell, stamped SS Perpetua?
And is it silver-plated from the lower deck,
or solid silver from the first-class deck?
What does the child care? Seeing with
a child’s pure eye, that shell’s more beautiful –
-tells more about the world – than any silversmith
could make?
Carrying whatever it is, the child returns to home;
shining eyes remind the parents of that time
when all the world spoke truth made visible
that knowledge, consciousness, and bliss
are what truth tells, and lives, and is.
*
[With smiling respect to Dr Kuntimaddi Sadananda,
who is conducting a learned disquisition on this text
on the internet..]
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Wonders Of Mother Nature
Mother nature
Oh mother nature
How beautiful and lovely you are
With such a tender loving care
Mother Nature
Ohh! Mother Nature
Our dearest mother nature
Our amazing mother nature
Ohh! Mother Nature
If nature allows can I please ask you a question
As a mother
How come you killed your young?
How come you made your fellow mothers cry?
How come you took away their joy?
You took the only thing that made their lives blossom
You suppose to make life beautiful
Mother Nature you suppose build
But how come you destroyed homes
Mother Nature you suppose to make the world a good place to be in
Yet you have turned the world to be a horrible place
Mother Nature as a mother you suppose to warn your young when the go astray
Not to destroy them
Yet you destroyed and killed them
You suppose to symbolize new beginnings and that there’s always hope
Yet you came and shuttled people’s lives and dreams
poem by Vangile Mtyali

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Jump (The Velvet Rope)
Some people get lucky
Born with a silver spoon
Other people got to work real hard
A whole life of paying dues
One man got a big old house
Fast car and swimming pool
Another man got a big old wife
Ten kids and one bathroom
[PRE-CHORUS]
Sometimes
We're just stuck
Behind
The velvet rope [x2]
[CHORUS]
You gotta jump up so high
Jump up jump over the rope
You gotta jump up so high
Jump up jump the rope
Some people get lucky
Take a chance to strike it rich
Other people wll they bet it all lose
Ain't life a bitch
One man's on the guest list
Arrives in a limousine
Another man got to stand on line
Outside in the pouring rain
[BRIDGE]
We got the world on a string
Wrapped around our fingers
We got everything we need
We don't need a thing
There ain't no rope that can hold us
Nothing keeps us down
There ain't a rope that can bind us
We're gonna jump up off the ground
song performed by by Seven And The Sun from Lee Ann Womack

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Leave Nature's Resources With Nature
I'm one of the many who does love Nature though Nature does need every friend
Of late she is not looking healthy otherwise why should we pretend
That all is well in Nature's Garden when all is not well there at all
Our crimes against Nature are many and any crime against Nature not small.
For our senseless polluting of Nature the price yet may be huge to pay
To our Earth Mother the one who does feed us we act in a disrespectful way
We pollute our natural environment with the resources we steal from Earth Mother that does not seem clever to me
Leave Nature's precious resources with Nature at least that is how it should be.
Humankind as a species quite successful that does go without any doubt
Yet when I say to some we are not friends of Nature they say to me what are you on about
They see no wrong in digging up the ground for it's resources or stealing oil from the floor of the sea
They are entitled to their opinions though we all look at things differently.
The Polar ice caps slowly melting and climate change is Worldwide
the talks of an Economic Depression have pushed Global warming to the side
But the financial economy is built on Nature and to Nature all of us belong
And 'twould seem in our dealings with Nature that we have our priorities wrong.
poem by Francis Duggan

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Owing to ignorance of the rope the rope appears to be a snake; owing to ignorance of the Self the transient state arises of the individualized, limited, phenomenal aspect of the Self.
quote by Guru Nanak

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fascinated With The Notion
On a daily basis,
Mother Nature is underestimated.
De-valued and unappreciated.
And given little if any respect.
And all that Mother Nature is...
We still take that power that is there,
To eliminate us completely off the scene...
As something Mother Nature will not do.
Although there remains a few of a negligent mindset,
Developing weapons to test to destroy Mother Nature's best...
That have become fascinated with the notion,
Mother Nature can't wait to have them rock her world.
As if 'she' is not prepared to let them have it where it hurts.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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The Oyster's Treasure Trove
Beneath the waves, beneath the stars,
Beneath the sunshine, too,
We'll find the raging tidal bars
That fill the oceans through.
In yonder depths, the oyster's shell
Holds fast its prize within...
For there it rests, content to swell,
Its wonders to begin.
The pearl exists without a care
Inside its Mother's arms...
Engulfed in softness, time to spare
And safe from Nature's harms.
And so it grows, till divers swim
The depths that air departs...
For there, where light itself must dim,
Are secrets that bless hearts...
The oyster rises to the sun
Where Man is known to live.
The pearl is prized out by someone,
Its special home to give.
Sometimes in silver it's been set...
Sometimes it's blessed by gold.
If so, it's lost all past regret...
What beauty we behold!
Across the world the ring is flown
Within its precious case.
It's sold on TV where it's shown
Exquisitely with grace!
A husband buys it for his wife
To celebrate their love
And so she wears it through her life
With thanks to God above...
poem by Denis Martindale

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Silver Palomino
(A mother dies leaving her young son
to come to terms with the loss.
In remembrance of Fiona Chappel,
for her sons Tyler and Oliver.)
I was barely 13 years old
She came out of the Guadalupe's on a night so cold
Her coat was frosted diamonds in the sallow moon's glow
My silver palomino
Sixteen hands from her withers to the ground
I lie in bed and listen to the sound
Of the west Texas thunder roll
My silver palomino
I track her into the mountains she loved
Watch her from the rocks above
She'd dip her neck and drink from the winter flows
My silver palomino
Our mustaeros were the very best, sir
But they could never lay a rope on her
No corral will ever hold
The silver palomino
In my dreams bareback I ride
Over the pradera low and wide
As the wind sweeps out the draw
'Cross the scrub desert floor
I'd give my riata and spurs
If I could be forever yours
I'd ride into the serrania where no one goes
For my silver palomino
Summer drought come hard that year
Our herd grazed the land so bare
Me and my dad had to blowtorch the thorns off the prickly pear
And mother, your hand slipped from my hair
Tonight I wake early the sky is pearl, the stars aglow
I saddle up my red roan
I ride deep into the mountains along a ridge of pale stone
Where the air is still with the coming snow
As I rise higher I can smell your hair
The scent of your skin, mother, fills the air
'Midst the harsh scrub pine that grows
I watch the silver palomino
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Live Beyond The Edge Of Hope
To live beyond the edge of hope
Is to dangle daily from a rope
In a perpetual dance with death itself
Beyond this world and all its wealth
There is a world of blue and green
But to the dark eye its all unseen
A world of orange, red and yellow too
But from the rope its beyond all view
For from the rope there's shades of grey
And sleepless nights and endless days
And every now and then some light
But just enough to confirm the night
There was a time I dangled from this rope
At the edge of hell and beyond all hope
I lived my life, just hanging there
Crushed and broken, suspended in the air
Then Jesus came and cut me down
He raised me up to wear a crown
A pauper raised to walk with kings
A voicless man but now who sings
Of all the glories of the Lord
Who came with Word and deed and sword
And conquered hell and death and sin
Restoring joy and hope within
Now all the world is bright to me
No matter what my eyes can see
No longer dangling from the rope
I walk with Jesus, I walk with hope
And above the clouds I know its true
The sun shines bright and the sky is blue
And when a shaft of light appears
It warms my heart and quells my fears
Now if your dangling from that rope
And this lie cries out, 'there is no hope'
Cry out to the one who can cut you down
He will raise you up and you will wear a crown!
poem by Frank McEleny

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Truths may not be truths
When I said that I saw a snake
That I had seen, it was true.
When I said that I saw a snake
That I hadn’t, it was false.
When I said that I saw a snake
That I mistook a rope for,
It was true according to me.
The so said truths passed on to us
Need not necessarily truths.
12.06.2010
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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Skip Away
I was walking, talking today
And a little girl came skipping my way
Reciting some silly nonsense song
Wasn't long before she was gone
' skip a rope '
A good friend in the middle of the night
rang up involved in her plight
On her behalf could I say a few words
Why of course and now they are heard
' skip a rope '
Then when the Sun comes out to play
We all perk up and listen to her say
Then we all smile from deeply inside
And from within the Sunshine can't hide
' skip a rope '
And with sadness you have to go
Across the ocean so far it's so
But when you land you extend your hand
from there to here and back again
' skip a rope '
poem by Midnights Voice

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You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes. No, you have to be able to imagine something else. While you're skipping rope, you have to be able to see something else.
quote by John Irving

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Merchant
Imagine, mother, that you are to stay at home and I am to travel
into strange lands.
Imagine that my boat is ready at the landing fully laden.
Now think well, mother, before you say what I shall bring for
you when I come back.
Mother, do you want heaps and heaps of gold?
There, by the banks of golden streams, fields are full of
golden harvest.
And in the shade of the forest path the golden champ flower
drop on the ground.
I will gather them all for you in many hundred baskets.
Mother, do you want pearls big as the raindrops of autumn?
I shall cross to the pearl island shore.
There in the early morning light pearls tremble on the meadow
flowers, pearls drop on the grass, and pearls are scattered on the
sand in spray by the wild sea-waves.
My brother shall have a pair of horses with wings to fly among
the clouds.
For father I shall bring a magic pen that, without his
knowing, will write of itself.
For you, mother, I must have the casket and jewel that cost
seven kings their kingdom.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore

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Rope The Moon
(jess brown/jim denton)
I dont have a lot to show
For these years of hard work
If you look at what I own
Still shes always telling me
To hold on to my dreams
Even when my hope is gone
Some may say that dreamings just for fools
And there are times I thought that might be true
But she thinks I could rope the moon
In her eyes there is nothing I cant do
When I think its out of reach
Shes the reason I still try
She thinks I could rope the moon
When I look at the sky
But cant see through the clouds
She shows me the brightest stars
If I think of coming back
cause Im having my doubts
She tells me Ive come so far
Nothing in this world comes easily
But I cant lose with her right next to me
cause she thinks I could rope the moon
In her eyes there is nothing I cant do
When I think its out of reach
Shes the reason I still try
She thinks I could rope the moon
Oh she thinks I could rope the moon
song performed by by John Michael Montgomery

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fragrance of Mother Earth
The Sun has risen in the east.
Fragrance of Mother Earth
will spread all over the world.
The fragrance of Mother Earth,
The perseverance of Mother Earth,
The consciousness of Mother Earth
and the thoughts of the land of arts,
all these will spread all over the world.
Food maintains the figure.
Oil causes smoothness.
In the lap of Mother,
abundant are the gems and precious jewels.
Dame Nature has bestowed air and water for all.
With the efforts of the human being
various kinds of crops are yielded.
Excellently charming are the rivers,
sylvan sites and brooks.
Fragrance of Mother Earth
will spread all over the world.
Summer, Rain and Winter
are the empirical experiences of this life.
We, the companions in joys and sorrows,
shall sing together the lilt of delight.
Dhol, Niś ā n and Ghumurā –
These enchanting musical instruments
encouragingly discard all dizziness.
The black-bee in the form of mind
rejoices humming over the flower
of colourful sentiments.
So marvellous and beautiful
is the creation of the Creator.
Fragrance of Mother Earth
will spread all over the world.
O Brothers and Sisters!
Wake up. With concentrative mind,
We’ll make our life blessed
by performing good deeds for the society.
Great strength is in the body of the youth.
We’ll keep the glory established
by accomplishing activities
in the path of righteousness
for the well-being of the country.
Salutations at the feet of our Mother India.
Our humble prayer at the feet
of the Mother Goddess Mā ņ ikeś warī.
Fragrance of Mother Earth will spread all over the world.
Our humble prayer at the feet of our Mother.
The thoughts of the land of arts will spread unfurled.
Fragrance of Mother Earth will spread all over the world.
poem by Harekrishna Meher

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