The Gardener

The Gardener  XXVIII- Rabindranath Tagore

"Your questioning eyes are sad. They

seek to know my meaning as the moon

would fathom the sea.

I have bared my life before your

eyes from end to end, with nothing

hidden or held back. That is why you

know me not.

If it were only a gem, I could break

it into a hundred pieces and string

them into a chain to put on your neck.

If it were only a flower, round and

small and sweet, I could pluck it from

its stem to set it in your hair.

But it is a heart, my beloved.

Where are its shores and its bottom?

You know not the limits of this

kingdom, still you are its queen.

If it were only a moment of pleasure

it would flower in an easy smile, and

you could see it and read it in a

moment.

If it were merely a pain it would

melt in limpid tears, reflecting its

inmost secret without a word.

But it is love, my beloved.

Its pleasure and pain are boundless,

and endless its wants and wealth.

It is as near to you as your life, but

you can never wholly know it.

                                 Listen to Kandale Tumi More on sitar

   The Nobel Prize winner and polymath , Rabindrabath Tagaore, wrote his poetry in the Bengali language of his native India. He also wrote songs like "Kindale Tumi More" ( my favorite from the collection above). The translation of "The Gardener", a volume of love poetry, is by the author. 
   "Love has no limits," he tells his lover and queen. Love is not merely a  gem that can be cut into pieces and strung into a necklace. Nor is it just a flower. He tells his beloved that his love is boundless and endless in its wants and wealth.
   Our life is  a gift and love is another gift. With these two gifts we need nothing more in this world for happiness.  But love is also a mystery and "you can never wholly know it".

Three Strands

Damien Rice

Two people enter marriage based on their prior experiences. Yet marriage connects deeper than physical togetherness. It requires that the couple "understand each other's thoughts and dreams." (Gibran)
  If the basis for  marriage has its foundation in friendship, then subsequent arguments will not break apart the strands of the marriage knot.
   This quote and story about marriage is illuminating:

“Though One May Be Overpowered, Two Can Defend Themselves. A Cord Of Three Strands Is Not Quickly Broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:12

"My husband proposed with a ring that had this life verse inscribed on the inside. This verse is incredibly meaningful to both of us. Understanding that two are better than one, but that two with God is even stronger has saved our marriage multiple times! The three cords represent a husband, a wife, and God. As the three form a close relationship with each other they cannot be quickly broken. Oh how so many marriages would benefit from clinging to this verse!"

  Damien Rice's song is bittersweet and the character is preparing for  a life filled with lies, death and problems. Nevertheless, the author of Ecclesiastes has  good point. This is powerful stuff.

Full Moon

  Full Moon rises
(over the Anasazi ruins
known as Wukoki in Wupatki National Monument, Arizona)

One of the most dramatic sights in the night sky—and inspiration for poets, artists, and lovers for millennia—full moons captivate us like nothing else.
The golden voice of Frank Sinatra sang a song about the Full Moon ( His birthday was  yesterday, 12-12-2014). In this song, the singer is lonely and sad while observing the full moon.

                                                                          "Full Moon and Empty Arms"

   In 1995, Bob Dylan sang a moving birthday tribute to Frank Sinatra  (in honor of "Ol Blue Eyes" 80th Birthday) called "Restless Farewell." 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY , MR. FRANK".  And to all the lovers out there who sit beside a full moon and wonder about holding someone special in their arms. Take the words of Mr. Dylan to heart:

                And though the line is cut, it ain't quite the end
                I'll just bid farewell till we meet again

We can look up at the sky every month and watch the full moon. Let's hope that are lives are as full as Frank and Bob. There is always a chance that love will come again.

Time and Eternity

   Time is recorded to calculate our paychecks and to determine how long the commute will take us to wrk. If you are smart, you will also record the time of your first kiss with the one you love.
  We can tell the date of our birth, but how many of us know the time?
    One jazz musician name his hit song "6:00 AM" to immortalize the birth of his daughter.
Life takes us on a journey. It is not how long you go on your journey, but how you spend the  time you are given while you are here.
    Time is a boundary between the past and the future, between yesterday and today. Time reveals to us what  we have enjoyed and it also leaves us with a memory ("suitcase of memories") of things that cannot be destroyed.
     If we have no clock, we mark time with sunrise and sunset -- the day begins and the day ends. But love has no ending. It's super power lasts forever.
    Music touches our hearts. Many musicians  record other musician's songs. These covers are also acts of  love.
     Cyndi Lauper wrote the above song with Rob Hyman.
 

• Jazz great Miles Davis recorded an instrumental cover of this in 1985. When Miles heard the Cyndi Lauper track, he just fell in love with the melody. In fact, Miles played this tune in almost all of his concerts from 1984 until just before his death in 1991."
  
  Lauper told The Sun July 25, 2008 that this is her favorite of all the many cover versions of this track. She added: "I mean it's Miles. Wow. Mindblowing!"

   
 The philosopher Nietzsche wrote:

“I shall return, with this sun, with this earth, with this eagle, with this serpent – not to a new life or a better life or a similar life:
I shall return eternally to this identical and self-same life, in the greatest things and in the smallest, to teach once more the eternal recurrence of all things,
to speak once more the teaching of the great noon-tide of earth and man, to tell of the Übermensch [Superman] once more…”
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Convalescent