Get up stand up, don’t give up the fight.
--Bob Marley

Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees - like a waterfall Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds - A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
--Mary Oliver

Be like Hafiz: Get up and make an effort. Don't lie around like a bum.
He who throws himself at the Beloved's feet is like a workhorse and will
be rewarded with boundless pastures and eternal rest.
--Hafiz

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose Nothing, I mean nothing honey if it ain't free, no no Yeah feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues You know feeling good was good enough for me Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

From Kentucky coal mine to the California sun Yeah Bobby shared the secrets of my soul Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done Yeah Bobby baby kept me from the cold world One day a near Selina Lord, I let him slip away He's lookin' for that home, and I hope he finds it But I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose Nothing, and that's all that Bobby left me, yeah But feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues
--Janis Joplin

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do Not convince me against The challenge. The years And cold defeat live deep in Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.
--Maya Angelou

you mustn't be afraid of death
you're a deathless soul
you can't be kept in a dark grave
you're filled with God's glow
be happy with your beloved
you can't find any better
the world will shimmer
because of the diamond you hold
when your heart is immersed
in this blissful love
you can easily endure
any bitter face around
in the absence of malice
there is nothing but
happiness and good times
don't dwell in sorrow my friend.
--Rumi

Feature photo courtesy of joeduty via Flickr.