Coyote's Den

These are poems by other people that I enjoy or find meaningful. Please note, I'm not much of a poetry buff. I don't go out of my way to read it.

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

This poem, by William Ernest Henley is one of my favorites. This singular piece has moved me every time I've read it. Of all poetry I have read, I think this one poem has affected me the most.

You Darkness

By Rainer Maria Rilke

You darkness, that I come from,
I love you more than all the fires that fence in the world,
For the fire makes a circle of light for everyone,
And then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything:
Shapes and fires, animals and myself,
How easily it gathers them!
Powers and people.

And it is possible a great energy
Is moving near me.

I have faith in nights.

My sister and friend, Wontolla shared this poem with me.

The Invitation

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from the book The Invitation published by Harper San Francisco, 1999

Permission was not granted to reproduce this poem. I was unable to contact the author. I do notice that it is reproduced all over the internet, and the author makes mention that this is so. I will remove it upon request from author or publisher, of course. My reproduction of it here is intended as praise and flattery, and as a statement that this particular work is important, meaningful, and worthy of being placed into the hearts and minds of as many people as possible. I urge others to visit the author's website, and to consider purchasing her poetry and literature.
If anyone knows a way that I can contact the author and request formal permission to reproduce this poem, I would greatly appreciate it.