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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A FRAIL CANOE


Child, how happy you are sitting in the dust,
playing with a broken twig all the morning.
I smile at your play with that little bit of a broken twig.
I am busy with my accounts, adding up figures by the hour.
Perhaps you glance at me and think, 
'What a stupid game to spoil your morning, with!'
Child, I have forgotten the art of being
absorbed in sticks and mud pies.
I seek out costly playthings 
and gather lumps of gold and silver.
With whatever you find you create your
glad games, I spent both my time and my
strength over things I never can obtain.
In my frail canoe I struggle to cross the sea of desire,
and forget that I too am playing a game.
Rabindranath Tagore

5 comments:

steven said...

hi, a very cool side-by-side of the lovely japanese print and the tagore poem. the message is clear as glass. the awareness of the games we play as adults that pass for life. the games we play as adults that mimic the form of children's games. very reminding. have a peaceful day. steven

Tess Kincaid said...

Oooo...pretty new header!

I made the best mud pies ever when I was five.

Unknown said...

Hi Alaine,

Wow! Super sky! I imagine we are all in something of a frail canoe, hoping to reach the opposite shore with the least of upsets.

Lyn said...

It's a shame that chidren's games are lost in time..We must retain the spirit of the child!!

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Steven and thankyou. Yes, DMJ does a lot of liasing with government and just loves the mind games that go on. You have a happy day too.

Willow, the new header photo I took from our front door (2006). You can just see some roses in the foreground.

Derrick, I was going to post on something entirely different but was reading my little book of Tagore and connected with this, as I do with so much of his writing.

Lyn, the spirit of the child is still very much within; I vividly remember playing in the dirt with my Brother and his little cars!