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Things That No One Ever Tells You...
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Not To Be Missed Love is not a gift that you receive
It is a present, a medal, a laurel wreath
that you keep hidden
In your most private envelope
or closet
till you find someone
you can give it to. Some One
who will accept it for what it is.
the most secret part of you
that you would part with in a minute
If the right face / form
met you in the middle of a city block.
You cannot teach new dogs old tricks.
Youth has to find its own way,
stumble, fall, get up, trip again
and rise and triple in its size
by learning those lessons.
Only tripping on your own ground teaches.
Dreams work.
Anything that you are brave enough
to conger and keep conjuring
can happen for you.
So; No one else
can do your loving for you.
Love is like your ABC's and colors
you perfect it at your own pace,
learning it as you go. Love
requires on the job training.
And no instructor lives who can be of use
unless your mind and heart stay open
tuned for S. O. S. and other signals
that arrive from time to time
as you turn and twist the dial
relentlessly even recklessly at times.
As for dreams, none arrives
without a nightmare
slouching in its shadow.
Dream hard, dream big. Small dreams
are for amateurs.
The bigger your dream
the quicker the little nightmare
slips back into the dark where it belongs.
These are things that no one tells you.
Don't believe me. I don't care. But
you have no excuse for disbelieving
now that you have been informed
by someone.
Love, knowledge, dreams
sought out and shared in equal measure
may not be the sum of life
but they are the sum of something
you will find hard to live without.
- Rod Mckuen (2002)
