Call Me by My True Names -- Thich Nhat Hanh

Guest poem sent in by Rachael Shaw

(Poem #1944) Call Me by My True Names Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow because even today I still arrive. Look deeply: I arrive in every second to be a bud on a spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, 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, in order to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive. I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river, and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the mayfly. I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond, and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence, feeds itself on the frog. I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as 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. I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands, and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, my people, dying slowly in a forced labor camp. My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life. My pain if like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans. Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughs 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 so the door of my heart can be left open, the door of compassion. -- Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk. His lifelong efforts to generate
peace moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1967. He is the author of over 75 books.

This poem was sent to me by a friend recently when I was becoming frustrated
with someone's judgmental approach to a client of mine that was due to be
executed. Hanh's poem is essentially about understanding. It is about not
judging one for their crime but rather seeing what got them to that point.
Working with prisoners on death row, one learns that the prisoners come from
neglect, abuse and poverty. Hanh explains that if raised under these
circumstances, one may end up like this also.

I interpret this poem as encouraging the practice of deep empathy for those we
have trouble understanding. Hahn is urging us to treat everyone kindly and look
at all living beings with eyes of compassion.

Rachael Shaw

[Links]
  Information on Thich Nhat Hanh
    http://www.seaox.com/thich.html

  Publisher of Thich Nhat Hanh books
    http://www.parallax.org/

The Ways We Touch -- Miller Williams

Guest poem submitted by Rachael Shaw:

(Poem #1855) The Ways We Touch Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don't want it. What appears bad manners, an ill temper or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone. -- Miller Williams

I have recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee - the home of country music. I
was fortunate on my first night in town to see a rare performance by
singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams and her father, poet Miller Williams
called 'Poetry Said, Poetry Sung'. Miller Williams recited a poem and
Lucinda picked a song to play that would fit the poem her dad had just read.

His poems really spoke to me and I went to the library the following day to
look for his work. On reading a few poems from 'Points of Departure' and
'Some Jazz a While', I was disappointed that the poems did not have such an
impact on me as they did when they were spoken by Miller the night before. I
fear this may happen with readers as well so I ask that you imagine an old,
grey man of slight stature and big glasses, whose body rocks when he laughs
and whose voice crackles when he talks ever so slowly. A man who knows of
struggle and loss. At one point during the show Lucinda said "Takes me
longer to say in a song what dad can do in a few lines." I think this is so
very true. For me, 'The Ways We Touch' was made to be spoken.

To experience Miller Williams, click on this videolink:
  [broken link] http://www.press.uillinois.edu/poetry/images/inaugural.mov.
Miller was chosen to read a poem at Bill Clinton's innaugauration in 1997
('Of History and Hope').

Rachael.