some poetry…

Khalil Gibran, age 15

Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese artist, poet and writer. He was born in the Christian Maronite town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon in 1883; at the time, Lebanon was a Syrian Province of the Ottoman Empire. As a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career.

Khalil Gibran is the third bestselling poet in history after Shakespeare and Lao Tse. His poetry is beautiful and his words can be searing. While most people know Gibran only as the author of "The Prophet", he wrote seventeen books, nine in Arabic and eight in English.

Khalil Gibran died of liver cancer on April 10, 1931. He was forty-eight years old. The people who attended his burial service said it wasn't a time of mourning, but of celebration.

I came across these two quotes today, and I thought I'd share them with you. I am sure they will have meaning for a lot of us.

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."

and

"a word I want to see written on my grave: I am alive like you, and I am standing beside you. Close your eyes and look around, you will see me in front of you ...."

≈ Kahlil Gibran