Filed under: culture

Kahlil Gibran on Marriage

On Marriage


 Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. 

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

•••

contra omnia discrimina
with thanks and love to Laura

Photo: Teen Angst ~ a Graffiti Love Plea

Written on a handrail, this angst-ridden teen love graffiti was found today in Penarth, on the steep steps above the esplanade (near the Bay Leaf Restaurant) leading to Alexandra Park. Transcription below...

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"Mickey, I'll be easy going, you can do what you want, see the boys as much as you want, I'll never hit you except in play-fights where I batter you! When I look into your eyes I know what I want, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I've messed up but please I'll do whatever you want. You will always be my best friend and I won't control you, I'll never give up on you, and if turtlepillar does die completely then I'll still come down here and think of you. I can't live without you, it's so hard to know that you're not mine. Please don't give up on me baby. I want you so badly, I love you xxxx"

Who's Mickey? Who wrote this? More curiously, who (or what) is 'turtlepillar?' contra omnia discrimina

Music Video & Lyrics: Groove Armada - I Won't Kneel

I, I long to be beside of you,
I was wrong to tell you what was true,
Yes I, know I'm a victim of my pride,
I belong to all that I've been through.

I drove for miles in a city trance,
I came to ask for a second chance,
But I won't dance, no I won't dance. I came for miles on a broken wheel,
I came to see whether love can heal,
But I won't kneel, no I won't kneel

'Cause I can't bend, can't hold,
Can't lend, can't fold,
Can't lose, won't cry,
Can't choose 'cause I know why. I, I want to always be with you,
What's wrong to tell you what I knew,
'Cause I know, I know I'm a slave to lonely pride,
I belong to all that I've been through. I drove for miles in a city trance,
I came to ask for a second chance,
But I won't dance, no I won't dance.

I came for miles on a broken wheel,
I came to see whether love can heal,
But I won't kneel, no I won't kneel.

'Cause I can't bend, can't hold,
Can't dance, can't fold,
I get close and get scared,
And this grows in my head.

Won't you give me something, something to hold?
Won't you give me something, something to hold?

Won't you give me something, something to hold?
Won't you give me something, something to hold?

St. Dwynwen’s Day - Reviving the old Welsh version of Valentines Day (plus a free card to download)

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While the shops are filling their shelves with fluffy pink hearts and cherubs in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, more and more welsh traditionalists are excited about St Dwynwen’s day.

The patron saint of lovers, Dwynwen whose name means “she who leads a blessed life”, is feted on January 25th. Although she is no longer officially recognised by the Vatican, she still enjoys great popularity in her home county of Anglesey, and St Dwynwen’s day continues to grow in popularity across Wales.

Dwynwen’s Bad Romance

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(Llanddwyn Island)

The most beautiful of King Brychan Brycheiniog’s daughters, Dwynwen is said to have lived in Anglesey in the 5th century. There are several stories told as to how she became the patron saint of lovers – some less family-friendly than others – but all the stories seem to agree that after a pretty disastrous relationship with a man called Maelon Dafodrill, Dwynwen fled to the forest, where she was visited by an angel who granted her wishes that she should never marry, and that God should look kindly on the dreams of all true lovers.

Dwynwen spent the rest of her life on Anglesey, founding a convent on Llanddwyn Island. It became so popular as a place of pilgrimage that a new church was built on the site in Tudor times, the remains of which can still be seen on the island today.

The Psychic Fish?

In a tradition which perhaps blends Christian and pagan traditions, it was once said that a visit to the Llandwynn Island church well could predict the future of a love affair. Tradition said that if the movements of the fish in the church’s well caused the water to move so much that it appears to boil, a happy-ever-after was guaranteed. Women who suspected their husbands of infidelity would sprinkle breadcrumbs on the surface of the water and cover them with a handkerchief – if the fish caused the handkerchief to move, the husband had been proved faithful.

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(Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus)

Created for you here is a gorgeous St Dwynwen’s day card that you can download, print and send to your true love/crush...

Download a printable PDF St. Dwynwen’s day card:
http://bit.ly/gL7vlD

So, how best to celebrate Dydd Santes Dywnwen? Forget about the overpriced and faintly sinister-looking Valentine themed teddy bears and cliched red roses, and treat your loved one to a weekend up in St Dwynwen’s home of Anglesey? Take a bracing walk along the Blue Flag beach and cwtch up on the sand dunes, or wander through the National Nature Reserve of Newborough Warren. (Angels not guaranteed. Sick-bucket not included). (Thanks to www.visitwales.co.uk)

A Poem About Mice by W R Espy

A mouse of my acquaintance in seven days was fed

Twice twenty thousand swordfish, and now that mouse is dead.

The mercury in swordfish is an enemy to dread.

He ate twice twenty thousand, and that mouse is dead.

His sister gnawed through pizzas (I’m told one million four).

There’s talk of botulism, and that sister is no more.

Their brother downed ten thousand turkeys lined with pesticide.

It took a week to kill him, but that poor mouse died.

So stay away from hormones, and from salmonella too,

Be impolite to cyclamates, and DDT eschew,

For additives and chemicals can kill you just like that,

Though (confidentially) those mice were done in by the cat.

Courtesy of:
http://weirdsid.tumblr.com/post/2758745039/a-poem-about-mice-by-w-r-espy

contra omnia discrimina