For Warmth By Thich Nhat Hanh

I hold my face between my hands
no I am not crying
I hold my face between my hands
to keep my loneliness warm
two hands protecting
two hands nourishing
two hands to prevent
my soul from leaving me
in anger

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote this poem during the Vietnam War after he heard about the bombing of the Vietnamese Village of Ben Tre.

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
Confucius

"In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
Aeschylus

Let us dedicate to ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: "to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
Robert Kennedy