Hercules Forum: Two poems I want to share with you.

Hi, y'all,

I've been mostly away from the Internet for the last month or so. Some of you on the IML know that my husband, Gene, was diagnosed with colon cancer in early August. He had surgery on Aug. 16th and has recovered beautifully from that. Since 2 of the 14 lymph nodes removed had traces of cancer, he's taking chemotherapy treatments. He gets his third on Wednesday and has so far felt NO ill effects from it. We have so much to be grateful for -- especially our friends, both on and off line. I apologize for not posting anything here before this. Lots of things got put aside.

The terrorist attacks last week came just as our own private lives are getting back to normal. They have made me realize even more what a blessed life I've been given. My husband is here to hold and I can say, "I love you," knowing that he'll hear me say it. So many women can't claim that small comfort any more.

My own words aren't up to the task or the challenge of the events of September 11, 2001, but others more eloquent have been hard at work. The following poem was posted to a non-Herkcentric mailing list. My thanks to Holly Irby, whose post originally brought this poem to my attention.

"Rest in Peace" is the work of Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. They, in turn, based their poem on Thich Nhat Hanh's "Plase Call Me By My True Names."

"This Vietnamese Buddist monk and peace activist," the Brussats say, "refuses to divide the world into easily identifiable victims and villains. With powerful prose and vivid imagery, he reaches out to take into his heart all those who are suffering -- the innocent and the violent, the powerful and the powerless, the oppressed and the oppressors.

"No one, Thich Nhat Hanh demonstrates in this poem, can be excluded from our thoughts and prayers. Even elements of the natural world and things are to be cherished as recipients of our compassion. Even the
perpetrators of horrible violence are part of the many names we call ourselves. "Please call me by my true names," he pleads, "so I can see that my joy and pain are one . . . and the door of my heart could be left open, the door of compassion." "

First is the poem as written by the Brussats. It is followed by verses added by others since its original appearance. The third poem is "Please Call Me by My True Names" by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Love to you all,
Ceredwyn

REST IN PEACE

I am a World Trade Center tower, standing tall in
the clear blue sky, feeling a violent blow in my side, and I am a towering inferno of pain and suffering
imploding upon myself and collapsing to the ground.
May I rest in peace.

I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane not knowing where we are going or that I am riding on fuel tanks that will be instruments of death,
and I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing
that in just a moment my future will be obliterated.
May I rest in peace.

I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers eating crumbs from someone's breakfast when fire rains down on me from the skies,
and I am a bed of flowers admired daily by thousands
of tourists now buried under five stories of rubble.
May I rest in peace.

I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke and debris on a mission of mercy only to have it collapse around me, and
I am a rescue worker risking my life to save lives who is very aware that I may not make it out alive.
May I rest in peace.

I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and out of the building to safety who knows that nothing will ever be the same in my soul again, and
I am a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned from head to toe who knows that these horrible images will remain in my mind forever.
May I know peace.

I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the giant TV screens thinking I'm seeing a disaster movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to the ground, and
I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends and family letting them know that I am safe.
May I know peace.

I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk this morning and now I'm debris scattered by the wind across lower Manhattan, and
I am a stone in the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot from the buildings that once stood proudly above me, death meeting death.
May I rest in peace.

I am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life, doing my best to be of service, and
I am a blood donor waiting in line to make a simple but very needed contribution for the victims.
May I know peace.

I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New York who has been forced to evacuate my home, and
I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked 100 blocks home in a stream of other refugees.
May I know peace.

I am a family member who has just learned that someone I love has died, and I am a pastor who must comfort someone who has suffered a heart-breaking loss.
May I know peace.

I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows
to stand behind any military action it takes to wipe terrorists off the face of the earth, and
I am a loyal American who feels violated and worries that people who look and sound like me are all going to be blamed for this tragedy.
May I know peace.

I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether I'll ever feel safe in a skyscraper again, and
I am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be a way to make the skies truly safe.
May I know peace.

I am the owner of a small store with five employees that has been put out of business by this tragedy, and
I am an executive in a multinational corporation who is concerned about the cost of doing business in a terrorized world.
May I know peace.

I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that are no more, and
I am a television reporter trying to put into words the terrible things I have seen.
May I know peace.

I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who will never come home, and
I am a boy in a faraway country rejoicing in the streets of my village because someone has hurt the hated Americans.
May I know peace.

I am a general talking into the microphones about how we must stop the terrorist cowards who have perpetrated this heinous crime, and
I am an intelligence officer trying to discern how such a thing could have happened on American soil, and
I am a city official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering of my people.
May I know peace.

I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am willing to die to prove it, and
I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the enemies of American capitalism and imperialism, and
I am a master strategist for a terrorist group who planned this abomination.
My heart is not yet capable of openness, tolerance, and loving.
May I know peace.

I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set, fighting back my rage and despair at these horrible events, and
I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon the merciful beneficence of God/Yahweh/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power.
May I know peace.

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we are all part of each other.
May we all know peace.

- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Others, including Susan M. in Colorado and Gordon H. in Alberta, Canada, have added these verses:

I am a freedom fighter whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am willing to die to prove it.
I am a sympathizer of freedom fighters standing with all those who have been overwhelmed by America's economic, political, environmental, and cultural intervention.
I am a master strategist for the freedom-fighting group who planned this brilliant stroke that pierced the heart of America. My heart is open, tolerant, and loving towards people who suffer at the hands of American morals.
May I know peace.
--------------------

I am a CIA agent who has trained foreign nationals to assist America in accomplishing its military goals.
I am a CIA agent who is now wondering if the foreign nationals whom I have trained are using their skills against my country.
May I know peace.
--------------------

I am an emergency-planning official who felt that I was doing a thorough job in protecting my city.
I am an emergency-planning official who now lies awake nights contemplating what mass terrorism I need to protect against next.
May I know peace.
--------------------

I am a loyal Palestinian watching a television display the self-righteous anger of Americans over the deaths of their victims of terrorism; yet, while thousands of my countrymen were dying as victims of other acts of terrorism, all that this television displayed to the world was a daily sating of Americans' curiosity about the alleged sexual misconduct of a congressman.
I am a loyal American who believed that there was security in my world, and suddenly my television is telling me that people hate my country. (But why? All I wanted was to have a good life.)
I am an American television producer trying to make percentage points by showing news that will appeal to an American audience which thinks that anything from another country is not relevant to their lives.
May I know peace.
--------------------

I am a loyal American. My country stands for democracy. My country stands for justice. I thought America was using its economic might and influence to
bring peace and stability to the world. I didn't know that some people in the world think America also commits acts of terrorism. . . that some people are saying that we are reaping the terrorism that we ourselves have sown.
I am a loyal American, who is angry and confused. How can we find a true and lasting peace?

I am the American President. My country is no longer an unbreachable bastion of democracy and justice. Many Americans want a war of revenge: -- "we need to restore our reputation and our dignity." Many Americans want a peace of negotiation: -- "we don't need to lose any more lives."
I am the American President, who is angry but cannot afford to be confused. How can I lead my country to a true and lasting peace?
May we learn peace.
--------------------

I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set,
fighting back my rage and despair at these incomprehensible events.
I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, and calling upon the merciful blessings of the Living God.
May I remember that we are never so lost that He cannot find us.
And may I know peace.
--------------------

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God who believes that we are all connected to each other.
May we all know peace.
----------------------

I am a child not yet born. Why did my fathers fight each other? I was not a part of their causes, yet still I carry their burden.
I want to know peace.
---------------------

I am God. I love My children. Why do they fight each other? I created them to love and serve each other, and to help those who struggle with how my gift of Life has presented itself to them.
They are living in the Garden of Eden; they have everything they need for an idyllic life; and yet they antagonize, attack, and annihilate each other!
All that I have intended for them since the beginning of time is that they would know Me and know peace.
For I am the Author and Source of peace.
---------------------

Please Call Me By My True Names - Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow-
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
I am a mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.
I am a frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin a bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.
My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up
and the door of my heart
could be left open,
the door of compassion.

Two poems I want to share with you.

{{{{{{{{{{{Ceredwyn}}}}}}}}}}}}

{{{Ceredyn & Hunter}}}}

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Ceredwyn}}}}}}}}}}}}

Just wanted to share too.....