The Land of a Thousand Roads

 The world is like a land of a thousand roads and a thousand faces,

despite which it can be nameless and roving it aimless –

so tell me how is the Earth endowed with a face,

how do our steps leave a meaningful mark on it?

You can say, I know you world even though you are unknown...

for you need not see a road to know there is one:

The road will appear the moment you step upon it.

There is no shepherd but you,

standing before endless horizons of worlds,

and you feel that it is obscurantism to be bound and suffer silently,

and you know that beauty is formless,

pain tasteless,

thoughts boundless,

and that your empty hands are but self-deceit.

Even if the world is no bed of roses,

it is not devoid of hope – 

which unfolds in immense spheres,

wherein there is no power to demarcate them –,

that besides cesspits there exists beauty in it.

You, standing in front of a canvas with a paintbrush in your hand,

spread fanciful threads within star clusters,

and there is a sun burning in one of your palms and a moon bathing in another;

you were borne by Infinity, so you paint light like a child,

for you know that, although you will not survive it here, your creation will still prevail...

You feel that clinging to that which is from without is tying you down,

that you had better let be that which is meant to be –

that is is advisable to give space to and allow growth of that which is to grow,

and dive into your own depths...

Although you cannot avoid dark waters

or the storm that you carry within –

you cannot escape from yourself or the world itself –,

you must not extinguish the light shining far off.

Peacify yourself, knowing that

even a loss can be liberating,

the act of breaking away can be a magnet,

for that which often binds you is a conjecture –

bulwarks of the mind disquieted by immeasurability...

It is no mistake to see more,

it is no mistake to go further,

it is no mistake to delve deeper.

You stand on the threshold of a new world that is the land of a thousand roads...

and it is wise to give it a face, to give meaning to your steps in it–

or else hell is cold and cold is hell.

This is not the end of the story – it is but one closed chapter.

Nothing concludes with an ending – all is just a continuous transformation.

The Land of a Thousand Roads © Ladanseuse

English translation "Krajina tisíců cest"

Undated original edited & published on 30. 3. 2022

A Little Tenderness

I went:
Close your eyes,
outstretch your arm,
open your palm.

And then:
If this was the only thing
I would ever tell you;
if this was the only thing
I would ever give you;–
it would be this...

Thereupon, 

onto your palm

with my finger

did I draw

a

h e a r t.

💓

A Little Tenderness © Ladanseuse

English translation "Něžnůstka" 

Original written based on an older concept on 30. 3. 2022

The Dern of Thy Heart

I know which way leads to the human heart,

being familiar with the secret it holds... 

💗

It is contained in the story of a gardener and his tree

that bears these tidings:

When the gardener dies, the tree grows on,

but when the tree dies, the gardener dies twice.

🌲

If you locate the tree

and protect it, nurture it, and foster its growth;

if you discover that you love the tree –

you actually love the gardener,

for it is part of him:

You love that into which he's put himself;

that which is dearest to his heart.,,

💕

The Dern of Thy Heart © Ladanseuse

English translation "Taj srdce Tvého"

Undated original published on 30. 3. 2022 & last edited on 16. 1. 2023