Poems and Inspiration

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1328dfc3.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1338dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>GETTING HIP </B></I></FONT><I><B>     </B></I><I><B>|</B></I><I><B>     </B></I><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GETTING HIP "><U><I><B>home</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Products and Services"><U><I><B>Products and Services</B></I></U></A><I><B>   |   </B></I><I><B>Poems and Inspiration</B></I><I><B>   |   </B></I><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="More Information"><U><I><B>More Information</B></I></U></A><I><B>   |   </B></I><A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resources"><U><I><B>Resources</B></I></U></A><I><B>   |   </B></I><A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><I><B>Contact Us</B></I></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1338dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I><B>Poems and Inspiration</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I Have This Vision</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I have this vision</I></div> <div> <I>I'm climbing up this cliff</I></div> <div> <I>by my fingernails, elbows, and arms from a pit.</I></div> <div> <I>That it seems I go it alone while I'm doing it</I></div> <div> <I>is an illusion and the rub.</I></div> <div> <I>I'm not doing it alone or for myself alone.</I></div> <div> <I>This is the reality that around me</I></div> <div> <I>is the spirit of everything good</I></div> <div> <I>wanting me to climb out.</I></div> <div> <I>As I raise myself, I raise everyone</I></div> <div> <I>and some part of me knows this</I></div> <div> <I>and some part in everyone knows this.</I></div> <div> <I>I hear screams and cheers peptalking me on,</I></div> <div> <I>coming in every form</I></div> <div> <I>and I know I'm going to make it</I></div> <div> <I>for dear life.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>May 29, 1981</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>Pain in Paradise</B></I></div> <bR> <div> How's Your Pain?</div> <div> The most frequent</div> <div> question I hear</div> <div> from my hospital bed is How's Your Pain? </div> <div> This poem comes to mind.</div> <bR> <div> <I>What is pain?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Pain is a calling out from within,</I></div> <div> <I>a loud yet silent yearning,</I></div> <div> <I>telling us we have not lived fully.</I></div> <div> <I>We have missed something.</I></div> <div> <I>We have not grasped</I></div> <div> <I>the meaning of the moment somewhere,</I></div> <div> <I>that will lead us,</I></div> <div> <I>when we do,</I></div> <div> <I>to the paradise </I></div> <div> <I>of self-fulfillment.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>What is paradise?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Paradise is full knowledge</I></div> <div> <I>and acceptance</I></div> <div> <I>of self lived out.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>What is self-fulfillment?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Self-fulfillment is the willingness</I></div> <div> <I>to live in paradise.</I></div> <div> <I>Pain confirms life is intentional; purposeful.</I></div> <div> <I>Life cannot be avoided,</I></div> <div> <I>short circuited, or</I></div> <div> <I>short changed. </I></div> <div> <I>We owe life; </I></div> <div> <I>its price is that we live.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Pain suggests the necessity</I></div> <div> <I>to live sacredly.</I></div> <div> <I>Life demands our complete attention</I></div> <div> <I>to this responsibility; and to each detail.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>As we do, life delivers us joy.</I></div> <div> <I>Life is inseparable from us.</I></div> <div> <I>Life is us asking we be conscious of life. </I></div> <div> <I>Pain will never leave us fully</I></div> <div> <I>until we embrace paradise;</I></div> <div> <I>Pain confirms we are meant,</I></div> <div> <I>we are intended,</I></div> <div> <I>to live in paradise.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>June 22, 1981</I></div> <div> <I>(c) Leslie Goldman</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I Caused the War</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I caused the War.</I></div> <div> <I>I apologize.</I></div> <div> <I>God gave me an entire Garden </I></div> <div> <I>with everything I could possibly</I></div> <div> <I>need except experience.</I></div> <div> <I>I wanted to know more. </I></div> <div> <I>When my Beloved offered me</I></div> <div> <I>lovelyfruit from the Tree of Knowledge,</I></div> <div> <I>I bite into it. </I></div> <div> <I>She was innocent. She meant no harm.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I loved that fruit. It made good Smoothies,</I></div> <div> <I>but Iate too much an d got indigestion.</I></div> <div> <I>They my mind got out of hand.</I></div> <div> <I>I thought I did something wrong.</I></div> <div> <I>I went into hiding.</I></div> <div> <I>God came to find me out.</I></div> <div> <I>God said, where are you?</I></div> <div> <I>I was ashamed of my nakedness </I></div> <div> <I>when He came calling</I></div> <div> <I>I put on clothes.</I></div> <div> <I>I confess. I have had a lot of fears</I></div> <div> <I>since that have controlled me.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Today is a new day.</I></div> <div> <I>I am GETTING HIP.</I></div> <div> <I>Going into hiding caused me and you</I></div> <div> <I>a lot of pain.</I></div> <div> <I>Pretending I do not know your every thought </I></div> <div> <I>and you my every thought</I></div> <div> <I>caused us both a lot of pain.</I></div> <div> <I>I have once again taken up residence</I></div> <div> <I>in the Enchanted Garden.</I></div> <div> <I>I welcome you to join me living here.</I></div> <div> <I>I welcome you to end War right now.</I></div> <div> <I>AllI can say is Plant Your Dream!</I></div> <div> <I>The world will be a more beautiful place.</I></div> <div> <I>I promise to not spend all my time worrying</I></div> <div> <I>and fretting about the missing Peace.</I></div> <div> <I>I know I am the missing Peace.</I></div> <div> <I>I promise to come out of hiding.</I></div> <div> <I>Will you join me in being</I></div> <div> <I>the Missing Peace too?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Leslie Goldman</I></div> <div> <I>January 22, 2003</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Day President Bush was given the power</I></div> <div> <I>to make War on Iraq</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Subject:Burying Our Dead</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I go meatless most of the time.</I></div> <div> <I>Occasionally, a Rocky Organic Chicken Dog</I></div> <div> <I>slips down the gullet</I></div> <div> <I>in honor of childhood's favorite foods Mom made.</I></div> <div> <I>Rare meat I buy, even the 22% hamburger</I></div> <div> <I>intended to eat raw, ends up going into the</I></div> <div> <I>freezer to be dealt in the Eternal Hereafter.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Down the street, not too far away,</I></div> <div> <I>is a friend who I have not visited in years.</I></div> <div> <I>He treats me with utmost respect.</I></div> <div> <I>His name is Hani. He is Arab.</I></div> <div> <I>He speaks better Hebrew than I do.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>He was born in Bethlehem, a city</I></div> <div> <I>noted for its other Star.</I></div> <div> <I>Hani's kindness</I></div> <div> <I>and respect for all humanity </I></div> <div> <I>is clear from the wide clientele</I></div> <div> <I>who come into Near East Foods</I></div> <div> <I>in various traditional garbs to buy his very,</I></div> <div> <I>very,fresh Lamb in all its body parts.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Women whose face I cannot see:</I></div> <div> <I>Men who speak languages I do not understand;</I></div> <div> <I>Dark skinned and happy children who wonder</I></div> <div> <I>why I walk the way I do--</I></div> <div> <I>all these shop at Hani’s</I></div> <div> <I>among the bagged basmati rice</I></div> <div> <I>and familar labeled herbs and seeds I know by</I></div> <div> <I>fragrance but cannot decipher by foreign label.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Hani's children are grown now.</I></div> <div> <I>His son is no doubt a basketball star</I></div> <div> <I>for some local high school,</I></div> <div> <I>but the moment I enter his store,</I></div> <div> <I>Hani will remember</I></div> <div> <I>me by name and wonder about</I></div> <div> <I>the distant travels that have kept us apart.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Today we are both in thoughts of War</I></div> <div> <I>but neither of us imagines that somebody very,very</I></div> <div> <I>different has volunteered to be our enemy.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>A few men who maybe never got</I></div> <div> <I>suckled enough decide events that will influence</I></div> <div> <I>the lives of all us shopping here.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I know if I call Hani and</I></div> <div> <I>ask for a delivery of the Lamb he will bring it.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We will sit and talk.</I></div> <div> <I>We will wonder about the influence</I></div> <div> <I>of grown men who behave as fighting boys,live in White Houses</I></div> <div> <I>and ask we bury our dead.</I></div> <div> <I>We will know without saying</I></div> <div> <I>that his dead and my dead</I></div> <div> <I>will be the same dead.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Something inside wants to see my dear friend Hani.</I></div> <div> <I>Something in me is calling out for the Lamb.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Leslie Goldman</I></div> <div> <I>nine days after GETTING HIP 2</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>January 24, 2003</I></div> <div> <I>7:31 AM</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>