"Like one powerless and defenseless against Love's control, the knight of the cart fell into such thoughts that he lost thought of himself. He did not know if he was alive or dead, did not remember his own name, did not know whether he was armed or not, did not know where he was going or whence he was coming. He remembered nothing but one person, and for her he put everyone else out of his mind. He thought so much about her alone that he heard, saw, understood nothing." -- Chretien de Troyes, The Knight of the Cart

For My Friend

Why did we become friends?
Why were we immediately drawn to each other?
Was it because you'd never known a father's love
and attention?
And because I lacked everything feminine?

Or was it just because you were wearing that straw hat
and that pretty summer dress
And I was standing in the courtyard, alone in a crowd
holding a scotch and soda in one hand
and a gin and tonic in the other?

I told you that you looked 'vintage'
and you told me that there was something sexy
about a hard-drinking sort of old-fashioned man

Whatever it was, it was one of the best things I ever did
We could have been lovers
But instead we became friends

I was jealous, one time
because you had a crush on someone else
because you were paying attention to someone else
But it passed, and I saw that that was not who we were

When everyone else turned on me
You were still there
And when everyone else turned on me again
You were still there

And all these years later, you are still here

When I'm feeling lost, and down,
and like there's no one in the world who loves me
who gets me
who thinks well of me
I can write to you, and you'll be there
When you're at the end of your tether
and feel like you can't endure another second on this earth
You call me, and know that I will understand

And so, this is to say Thank You
and that I Love You
my dear, sweet, special friend

A Christmas Poem for You

I think I know now,
why I think of you at Christmas
Why, to me, Christmas means you

Christmas is
the most beautiful time of the year
And to me,
you are the most beautiful of women
To me, looking at your face
is like looking at a Christmas tree;
shining, sparkling, glowing, enchanting

Christmas means
a home full of love
the lights of tree and candles
the warmth of the fire
the glow of food and wine
the joy of giving and receiving
the peace of belonging
And those are all the same things
that you make me feel

At Christmas
there is that indefinable spirit in the air
That sense of hope, of excitement, of expectation
Of goodness, love, and deep and lasting joy
And those are the things I feel
when I think of you
when I am around you
when I just remember that you are in the world

Christmas is all these things;
sublimely beautiful, profoundly joyful
because at Christmas, we savor the sweet presence of Christ

And you are all these things to me
because in you, I also taste His presence
In loving you, I abide in His love

I received these pictures this morning, from one of the outreaches I sponsor in India. They are celebrating my birthday (which I am not, although that cake looks delicious enough to make me re-think it). I found it touching and sweet (and humbling), so I thought you might enjoy them too.

It makes me unspeakably happy that these hungry children are eating, and eating my birthday cake. Since I was a child, when my mother used to say "Eat, there are starving children in...", I have often wished that I could send what I was eating just then to those starving children. This is like that actually happened.

He could not look at her enough; the more he gazed at her, the more she pleased him...looking at her restored and delighted him."

-- Chretien de Troyes, Erec et Enide

"The maiden was very beautiful, for Nature in making her had turned all her attentions to the task. Nature herself had marveled more than five hundred times at how she had been able to make such a beautiful thing just once, for since then, strive as she might, she had never been able to duplicate in any way her original model. Nature bears witness to this: never was such a beautiful creature seen in the whole world. In truth I tell you that Isolde the Blonde had not such shining golden hair, for compared to this maiden she was nothing. Her face and forehead were fairer and brighter than the lily-flower; contrasting marvelously with the whiteness, her face was illuminated by a fresh, glowing color that Nature had given her. Her eyes glowed with such brightness that they resembled two stars; never had God made finer nose, mouth, nor eyes. What should I say of her beauty? She was truly one who was made to be looked at, for one might gaze at her just as one gazes into a glass."

"Indeed  though beautiful  her good sense is worth even more than her beauty. God never made such a wise creature, nor one so noble in spirit."

"When I have (her) near me, I would not give a marble for the whole world: she is my delight, she is my diversion, she is my solace and my comfort, she is my wealth and my treasure. I love nothing else as much as her."

 -- Chretien de Troyes, Erec and Enide