{"id":186174,"date":"2021-06-28T12:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T11:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=186174"},"modified":"2021-05-31T07:34:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T06:34:58","slug":"a-tear-and-a-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/06\/a-tear-and-a-smile\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tear and a Smile"},"content":{"rendered":"

I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
\nFor the joys of the multitude.
\nAnd I would not have the tears that sadness makes
\nTo flow from my every part turn into laughter.<\/p>\n

I would that my life remain a tear and a smile.<\/p>\n

A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding
\nOf life’s secrets and hidden things.
\nA smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and<\/p>\n

To be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.<\/p>\n

A tear to unite me with those of broken heart;
\nA smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.<\/p>\n

I would rather that I died in yearning and longing than that I live Weary and despairing.<\/p>\n

I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in the
\nDepths of my spirit,for I have seen those who are
\nSatisfied the most wretched of people.<\/p>\n

I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and Longing, and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody.<\/p>\n

With evening’s coming the flower folds her petals
\nAnd sleeps, embracing her longing.
\nAt morning’s approach she opens her lips to meet
\nThe sun’s kiss.<\/p>\n

The life of a flower is longing and fulfillment.
\nA tear and a smile.<\/p>\n

The waters of the sea become vapor and rise and come
\nTogether and area cloud.<\/p>\n

And the cloud floats above the hills and valleys
\nUntil it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weeping
\nTo the fields and joins with brooks and rivers to Return to the sea, its home.<\/p>\n

The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting.
\nA tear and a smile.<\/p>\n

And so does the spirit become separated from
\nThe greater spirit to move in the world of matter
\nAnd pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrow
\nAnd the plains of joy to meet the breeze of death
\nAnd return whence it came.<\/p>\n

To the ocean of Love and Beauty—-to God.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Kahlil Gibran (Jan 6 1883\u2013Apr 10 1931) was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer. As a young man he immigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet<\/a>, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture<\/a>. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare<\/a> and Laozi<\/a>. (Wikipedia)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
\nFor the joys of the multitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[1636,868],"class_list":["post-186174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-kahlil-gibran","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}