Friday, August 19, 2011

All the True Vows

I only needed to read the first four lines of this poem by David Whyte. How much time and how many years might a person spend, hoping for someone else's approval, seeking evidence and confirmation that what is felt, what is known, what is honored is good and right if only because it belongs only to the one who owns it?

I am a strong and reasonably healthy person. I'm not perfect, but I know how to live and I don't hold back love. And yet, that is my public self. That is how I try to be, how I want to be seen.

This poem pushes and prods me to face and be sure how I see myself. What could be more important?

I offer it to you for the same purpose. I hope you will find it well worth the read.
love
kj

All the true vows
are secret vows
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.

There is only one life
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.

Hold to the truth you make
every day with your own body,
don't turn your face away.

Hold to your own truth
at the center of the image
you were born with.

Those who do not understand
their destiny will never understand
the friends they have made
nor the work they have chosen

nor the one life that waits
beyond all the others.

By the lake in the wood
in the shadows
you can
whisper that truth
to the quiet reflection
you see in the water.

Whatever you hear from
the water, remember,

it wants you to carry
the sound of its truth on your lips.

Remember,
in this place
no one can hear you

and out of the silence
you can make a promise
it will kill you to break,

that way you'll find
what is real and what is not.

I know what I am saying.
Time almost forsook me
and I looked again.

Seeing my reflection
I broke a promise
and spoke
for the first time
after all these years

in my own voice,

before it was too late
to turn my face again.



"All the True Vows" from The House of Belonging by David Whyte. �Copyright © 1997, 2004 by David Whyte.

15 comments:

  1. so true... secrets vows are the real vows....something is better left unsaid :) nice sharing :)

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  2. Thoughtful, creative way of understanding. And living.
    Thanks.

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  3. Wowee, what a poem. Yes, I understand it and, yes, I believe it is true.
    Thank you, kj. xoxo

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  4. "I broke a promise and spoke for the first time after all these years, in my own voice."

    These lines especially strike me. Now is the time to speak out and in my own voice. To reveal the inner me, who I really am. As a one time writer and also visual putterer I feel I have revealed an aspect of my voice via silent words on the page and via paint. However for me to speak myself out loud is what i need to do before time forsakes me.

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  5. A very powerful poem, kj. Thank you for sharing it with us. I love these lines:

    Hold to your own truth
    at the center of the image
    you were born with.

    Lots to think about here. :) Xo Pam

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  6. Oh gosh, did this ever reverberate...I read it twice, but it deserves MANY readings and feelings.

    Love to you,

    S

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  7. I instantly felt my throat close,my hands became sweaty,the beating of my heart became louder,all the while the sounds in the room became muffled and distant.
    It's not often I read something,that I feel in my heart,was written for me and me alone..that is spoken to me,about me,probing me for answers,waiting for a response.This is one of those times..when life said, "SIT UP,PAY ATTENTION"..I'm talking here..and you sure as hell better listen up.
    Thank you friend,Cat

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  8. Thank you kj, this is perfect.
    xo

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  9. what true words and so beautiful too.

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  10. it's a lovely poem kj, thank you for taking the time to type it in to share.

    have a wonderful sunday!

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  11. Thats a poem I will cherish for sure KJ...missed you and love you.

    xoxoxox

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  12. I do not know how to speak any vow that will be intentionally broken nor how to speak in a voice not my own. and that is how I became from the fear filled to the fearless.

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  13. " All the true vows
    are secret vows
    the ones we speak out loud
    are the ones we break. "

    Great !!

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  14. no other way for a comfortable life

    x Robyn

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  15. oh my goddess. i am just reading the fifth agreement by don miguel ruiz and he talks about this very thing - being our true selves. i love the line about 'whatever you hear from the water, remember, it wants you to carry the sound of its truth on your lips'

    i'm in south carolina right now by my beloved ocean and i do listen to the water speak. (and right now a hurricane is talking actually ;-)

    this is so lovely, kj. thank you for sharing this.

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