I talked about my journal entry for the New Year: my resolutions, the 'Way', the most important people and thing in my life, my prayers and meditations. I also read Schaef's January 1 entry from her book "Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much."

I am reading for you two pages of The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who is one of the icons of our time and one of the most inspiring women in the world.

This is one of my favourite poems. It tells us to never, never, never lose faith.

I am reading from Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom about Good Books and reciting Gibran's poem on Work.

Ithaca by Constantine P. Cavafi always reminds me that life is a journey, an adventure to be fully experienced, enjoyed and lived.

I wrote this poem ("Ask Me Not of Sunset") for my Mother's 80-th birthday, while watching a giant lizard swimming gracefully in a swamp and a kingfisher bird taking her first step in the dawn. Ask Me Not of Sunset. (to Eniek on her 80-th birthday) Do not come and ask me of sunset, For I have not seen one, For I have not been one. They came and asked: How about the greying of hair, The fall of tooth, The aching of bones, Is it not sunset? I answered them loud and clear: No, it is not sunset, Because for every strand of grey hair, Every tooth that fell, Every aching of the bones, A new wisdom will come, knocking at our door: Learn anew, it is dawn again. The next time they marched and shouted: How about the faces we forget, The names we cannot recall, The memories that fly away, Is it not sunset? So I answered them louder and clearer: No, it is not sunset. Because for every face, and name, And memory we lost, There is always a new song waiting to be sung, A new poem to be written, To honour all that have gone by. They stomped their feet and screamed: How about those departures of our beloved, Early evening slumber that feels too early, The loneliness of the soul, Is it not sunset? I smiled and answered: No, it is not sunset, For every departure will remind us To paint a worthwhile legacy, All loneliness and slumber that feels too early, Will be wiped away by a morning prayer, And by a first, small step in the dawn. Ask me not of sunset, For I have not seen one, For I have not been one. #wildlife #wildanimals #giantlizard #kingfisherbird #swamp #naturelovers #morningmeditation #nature #Beethoven #joyfullife #poem #poetrycommunity #poetrylovers #sunset #dawn #lifelonglearning #acceptance #literaturereview #literature