Thich Nhat Hanh

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#C0DCC0" TEXT="#080000" background="01ed4c00excgdu.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.seaox.com/thich.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.seaox.com/thich.html"><U><B>Thich Nhat Hanh</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>D</B><A HREF="id78_m.htm#tomorrow" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Thich Nhat Hanh"><U><B>o </B></U></A><A HREF="id78_m.htm#tomorrow" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Thich Nhat Hanh"><U><B>Not Say That I'll Depart Tomorrow</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id78_m.htm#message" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Thich Nhat Hanh"><U><B>Message</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.plumvillage.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.plumvillage.org/"><U><B>Plum Village</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parallax.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parallax.org/"><U><B>Books by Thich Nhat Hanh</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#C0DCC0" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="514" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#00BFBF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1394 ><NOBR><div> <B> </B><B>Do Not Say That I'll Depart Tomorrow</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0033" FACE="Arial" ><B> <A NAME="tomorrow"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow</div> <div> because even today I still arrive. </div> <div> Look deeply: I arrive in every second</div> <div> to be a bud on a spring branch,</div> <div> to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,</div> <div> learning to sing in my new nest,</div> <div> to be a caterpillar in the heart of flower,</div> <div> to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.</div> <div> I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,</div> <div> in order to fear and to hope,</div> <div> the rhythm of my heart is the birth and</div> <div> death of all that are alive.</div> <div> I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the</div> <div> surface of the river,</div> <div> and I am the bird which, when spring comes,</div> <div> arrives in time to eat the mayfly.</div> <div> I am the frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond,</div> <div> and I am also the grass-snake who,</div> <div> approaching in silence,</div> <div> feeds itself on the frog.</div> <div> I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,</div> <div> my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,</div> <div> and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly</div> <div> weapons to Uganda.</div> <div> I am the 12-year-old-girl, refugee</div> <div> on a small boat,</div> <div> who throws herself into the ocean after</div> <div> being raped by a sea pirate,</div> <div> and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable</div> <div> of seeing and loving.</div> <div> I am a member of the politburo, with</div> <div> plenty of power in my hands,</div> <div> and I am the man who has to pay his</div> <div> "debt of blood" to my people,</div> <div> dying slowly in a forced labor camp.</div> <div> My joy is like spring, so warm it makes</div> <div> flowers bloom in all walks of life.</div> <div> My pain is like a river of tears, so full it</div> <div> fills up the four oceans.</div> <div> Please call me by my true names,</div> <div> so I can hear all my cries and my laughs </div> <div> at once,</div> <div> so I can see that my joy and pain are one.</div> <div> Please call me by my true names,</div> <div> so I can wake up,</div> <div> and so the door of my heart can be left open,</div> <div> the door of compassion. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Message</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#660066" FACE="Arial" ><B> <A NAME="message"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Life has left her footprints on my forehead.</div> <div> But I have become a child again this morning. </div> <div> The smile, seen through leaves and flowers, </div> <div> is back to smooth away the wrinkles, </div> <div> as the rains wipe away footprints on the beach. </div> <div> Again a cycle of birth and death begins.</div> <div> I walk on thorns, but firmly, as among flowers. </div> <div> I keep my head high. </div> <div> Rhymes bloom among the sounds of bombs and mortars. </div> <div> The tears I shed yesterday have become rain. </div> <div> I feel calm hearing its sound on the thatched roof. </div> <div> Childhood, my birth land, is calling me, </div> <div> and the rains melt my despair.</div> <div> I am still here alive, able to smile quietly. </div> <div> O sweet fruit brought forth by the tree of suffering! </div> <div> Carrying the dead body of my brother,</div> <div> I go across the rice field in the darkness.</div> <div> Earth will keep you tight within her arms, my dear,</div> <div> so that tomorrow you will be reborn as flowers,</div> <div> those flowers smiling quietly in the morning field. </div> <div> This moment you weep no more, my dear. </div> <div> We have gone through too deep a night.</div> <div> This morning, </div> <div> I kneel down on the grass, </div> <div> when I notice your presence. </div> <div> Flowers that carry the marvelous smile of ineffability </div> <div> speak to me in silence.</div> <div> The message, </div> <div> the message of love</div> <div> and understanding, </div> <div> has indeed come to us.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="508"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="508" 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