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The Whole World

My favorite thing is being your lap while we sit there together & love the whole world.

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Single Mind

If I love you with all my heart, she said, what will you give me? & then she stopped & said I didn't have to answer that because she was going to do it anyway.

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Promises

I only promise the little things. The big things don't pay attention to what I want anyhow.

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Equal Treatment

Why do they treat us like children? they said & I said why do you treat them like adults? & their eyes opened wide & they began to laugh & talk all at once & suddenly everything looked possible again.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Here's a corollary to Jesus's injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself : "I
will love the dark, difficult side of my neighbor--not just the attractive,
friendly side--and I will encourage it to express itself in constructive
ways."

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Right Practice

It's hard to say the right words without practice, I said & she whispered in my ear, Say them as many times as you like & we practiced late into the night.


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Ancient Songs

That was the day the ancient songs of blood & war spilled from a hole in the sky & there was a long moment as we listened & fell silent in our grief & then one by one, we stood tall & came together & began to sing of life & love & all that is good & true & I will never forget that day when the ancient songs died because there was no one in the world to sing them.

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Time in a Box

This is a box filled with all the time in the world & most people are amazed it fits in such a small space.

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Waiting for Signs

I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream & an angel in black tights came to me & said, you can start any time now, & then I asked is this a sign? & the angel started laughing & I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there's no laughter, I know they're not for me.

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Real Reason

There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good.
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Inner Beauty

has a really beautiful soul but hasn't found a way to express it yet

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Legacy

I promise you not a moment will be lost as long as I have heart & voice to speak & we will walk again together with a thousand others & a thousand more & on & on until there is no one among us who does not know the truth: there is no future without love.

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I don't believe in love, she said & I nodded & said I had heard that argument before & it always ends badly & she could not think of another thing to say.

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Hard Choice

I don't really like coffee, she said, but I don't really like it when my head hits my desk when I fall asleep either.

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Night Itself

He sneaked through the world like night itself & never gave himself a chance to love.

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Quiet Prayer

As long as the sun shall rise goes the old lovers vow. But we are children of a scientific age & have no time for poetry. Still, I offer a quiet prayer of thanks for the sunlight each time I see your face.

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Nothing More

Often, I write all day long with white ink on white paper, late into the night, until it is all I can do to feel the letters curving to earth from the tip of the pen & then, I fall asleep. Dreaming of running, or maybe driving in a car the color of water & I wake the next day remembering nothing & I gather the stack of paper & a pen of black on the desk in front of me & the words begin to dance over the page like long legged insects across a still lake & the words in white whisper behind & underneath the new day. If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that.

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Sideways Ladder

This is a sideways ladder because she likes to feel she's making progress, but she's afraid of heights.

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Crayon Pirate

There was a single blue line of crayon drawn across every wall in the house. What does it mean? I said. A pirate needs the sight of the sea, he said & then he pulled his eye patch down & turned and sailed away.