Antonio Machado

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt–blessed vision!
that a fountain flowed
here in my heart.
I said: Why, O water, have you come
along this secret waterway,
spring of new life,
which I have never tasted?

 

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt–blessed vision!
that I had a beehive
here in my heart;
and the golden bees
were making
from all my old sorrows
white wax and sweet honey.

 

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt–blessed vision!
a blazing sun shone
here in my heart.
It was blazing because it gave heat
from a red home,
and it was sun because it gave light
and because it made me weep.

 

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt–blessed vision!–
that it was God I had
here in my heart.

Antonio Machado

 

(photo Rose Cook)

 

from ‘Live Like You Were Dying’ by Tim McGraw

He said
‘I was in my early forties
With a lot of life before me
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days
Looking at the x-rays
Talking about the options,
talking about sweet time.’
I asked him:
‘When it sank in
That this might really be the real end,
How’s it hit you
When you get that kind of news?’

He said:
‘I went skydiving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Blue Manchu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.

I was finally the husband
That most of the time I wasn’t
And I became a friend a friend would like to have
And all of a sudden going fishing
Wasn’t such an imposition
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.

I finally read the Good Book, and I
Took a good, long, hard look
At what I’d do if I could do it all again.’
And he said:
‘Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying,
Like tomorrow was a gift
And you’ve got eternity
To think about
What you’d do with it.’

 

photo Rose Cook