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Poetry | Call Me by My True Names By Thich Nhat Hanh

9 July

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Young novice monk holding a candlelight

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 is 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.

Call Me by My True Names, by Thich Nhat Hanh

“…So I can wake up, and so the door of my heart can be left open.” #ThichNhatHanh

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Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Jo Malby
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Jo Malby
A bibliophile writer on a quest to find ancient solutions for each creative conundrum, and share those solutions with you to inspire, edify and delight.

I distil global wisdom, ancient and new, to empower writers, artists and creative entrepreneurs with tools to unleash their creativity by rebalancing their being.
Jo Malby
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Filed Under: Filed Under: Poetry, Poets, Read, The Island

About Jo Malby

Finding inspiration, offering, and encouraging it through creative, and healing practices, ancient wisdom, and modern techniques, to fuel your writing, art, and life.

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