Life, Interiority, Faith, Eternity

L.I.F.E. 68

2011-11-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

THE NORTH TOWER - EPILOGUE

2011-09-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

In Commemoration— September 11, 2001 - 2011
By Stephen Cipot

Give me passion. Give me truth, and the dreams of youth.
Stone me. Starve me. Burn me, kill me, fling me down.
Tragedy, courage, and love, are rooted out of my soul.
Out of the day, out of the blue,
Disintegration of values, views, and hopes —
Whirled into a vortex, leaving a gaping hole.
Ashes for truth, and bones for freedom,
Nothing anyone would want to believe in.
A tangled madness below the ape on the way to oblivion.

One died a fireman,
One an airline passenger,
One a civil servant,
One a policewoman,
One an electrician,
One a janitor,
One a stock broker,
One a secretary;

So many names upon the wall, all have a voice.
When words cannot capture and flesh is too weak to speak,
Ply me with the creed of churches, temples,
Mosques and schools,
So that what I build will rise almost to heaven.

Every soul is a world of becoming,
And what destiny is, deeply connected to one another.
Freeing itself to eternity.
We touched the star where you vanished
With our outstretched beams of light in the night sky.
Unifying in harmony, the peace of Buddha,
Prayers of Jesus, dreams of Mohammed, thought of Plato,
Passion and civility of Dr. King,
Memory of the shtetl, poetry of Whitman,
Brought together in the crucible of a small urban space,
In these ashes are the fiercest unquenchable flames.

L.I.F.E. 67 Unfolding

2011-09-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 66 Finding

2011-04-01T12:21:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 65 Breathing Love

2011-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 64 Approaching Love

2011-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. 63 Birth and Rebirth-Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

A poem from Stephen Cipot, for all of us!

HEAVEN AND EARTH

In praise of Heaven,

And the boundless inner sky guided by its light.

And of life in either realm

That knows the depth its love embraces.

A love that blooms in many faiths and languages.

It is winter here, and nearly always freezing.

The world is broken and moves stupidly on

After the fall,

An orb of water, wind, and stone,

It’s stones are cold under my feet.

I sing in praise of Heaven

And its supple endless song,

That shares its heartwarming promise with all.

A voice speaking straight out of my soul.

It’s not mine to give.

But I’m looking up and find myself flying.

A most beautiful thing!

Above the brilliant light of Heaven.

I never want to lose its secrets.

Dear Reader,

wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy and Peaceful New Year

Stephen Cipot

December 2010

L.I.F.E. 62 Sacred Garden

2010-11-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. 61 Freedom, Transparency and Peace

2010-09-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 58 Dancing With Dreams (For Children)

2010-08-19T16:25:00.001-07:00

Poetry and art by Tanya Torres

L.I.F.E. 57 Healing

2010-08-15T08:38:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 56 Our Mary Magdalene of Inspiration

2010-07-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 55 Devotions

2010-07-16T11:23:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 54 Magdalenes

2010-07-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 53

2010-07-08T16:48:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 52

2010-06-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 51

2010-06-25T10:07:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 50

2010-06-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 49

2010-05-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 48

2010-05-20T12:25:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 47

2010-05-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Creating this issue, I was thinking of St. Teresa of Avila and Mechthild of Magdeburg, and of ascending beyond the obvious and literal in choosing a phrase by Carmen Torres (completely out of context and originally published in the Holy Rosary Church bulletin in 2009) about the role of the Virgin Mary. Tanya

L.I.F.E. 46

2010-05-10T12:16:00.001-07:00

Poems-In-Your-Pocket

2010-04-28T11:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Poem-In-Your-Pocket Day. Download and print these Hojas de Poesía to carry in your pocket and share with people! With love, Tanya

L.I.F.E. 44

2010-04-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 43

2010-04-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 42

2010-04-16T07:45:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 41

2010-04-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. 40 Coming soon!

2010-04-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had some problems with the front of this issue, which I will post soon. Please enjoy the back in the meantime! Tanya

L.I.F.E. 39

2010-03-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

With this issue of L.I.F.E. I begin to post it in a new format. I continue to produce L.I.F.E. in the previous format for Holy Rosary Church in East Harlem, where it began and where it continues to be read by the parish. However, in an effort to make L.I.F.E. more universal, like the poetry and art it contains, I will publish an alternative version here. I hope that you feel inspired to forward it to your friends if you like it! I am hoping too that with this new format more people will be drawn to read, enjoy and get inspired by the spiritual nature of the poetry and art published here.

L.I.F.E. 38

2010-03-15T18:08:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. 37

2010-03-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. 36

2010-02-25T13:35:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. 35

2010-02-16T14:15:00.001-08:00

Books for the Winners of the Sacred Poetry Contest

2010-02-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

HEART BREAKS OPEN by Lisa Masé
and
PRAYERS FOR THE PRESENT by Rita Gadi
Editions of 10 books each by Tanya Torres

L.I.F.E. 34

2010-02-11T09:16:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. 33

2010-02-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 32

2010-02-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 31

2010-01-28T06:00:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 30

2010-01-15T16:22:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 29

2010-01-08T08:53:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 28

2010-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 27

2010-01-07T09:58:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 26

2010-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 25

2009-12-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 24

2009-12-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 23

2009-11-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 22

2009-11-27T18:23:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 21

2009-11-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 20

2009-11-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 19

2009-11-06T07:52:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 18

2009-11-06T07:50:00.001-08:00

L.I.F.E. No. 17

2009-10-16T19:19:00.001-07:00

Sacred Poetry Contest

2009-10-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

I would like to invite you to submit up to 5 poems of mystical theme by email to tanyaetorres@gmail.com to win an edition of 10 handmade books designed especially for you by me, artist Tanya Torres (visit www.tanyatorres.com to view my work and books). When you submit your poetry you allow your work to be published in L.I.F.E. (Life, Interiority, Faith, Eternity. You may view the electronic version athttp://lifeartandletters.blogspot.com/), a free publication I create every week as a way to bring art and poetry to my community here in East Harlem, NYC. It is printed in photocopy and is very humble, but made with great love. Poems need not be religious or follow any particular path, only the way of love and kindness.

I hope that YOU get inspired to write a poem and that you pass this on to a friend. ACEPTO POEMAS EN ESPAÑOL (and ANY other language as long as you send me a translation!) All work submitted remains the property of the writer and I only ask that you allow me to publish it in L.I.F.E. Deadline: December 20, 2009

L.I.F.E. No. 16

2009-10-14T13:22:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 15

2009-10-09T08:25:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 14

2009-09-28T12:02:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 13

2009-09-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 12

2009-09-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 11

2009-09-10T13:59:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 10

2009-08-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 9

2009-08-28T07:51:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 8

2009-08-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 7

2009-08-10T11:35:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 6

2009-08-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 5

2009-07-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 4

2009-07-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 3

2009-06-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 2

2009-06-30T20:32:00.001-07:00

L.I.F.E. No. 1

2009-06-30T20:28:00.001-07:00