destiny - by Haki Madhubuti

destiny

under volcanoes & timeless years within watch
and low tones. Around corners, in deep caves among
misunderstood and sometimes meaningless sounds.
Cut beggars, outlaw pimps & whores. Resurrect work.
Check your distance blue. Come earthrise men
deepblack and ready, come sunbaked women rootculture on the move.
Just do what you're supposed to do, what you say you gonta do
not the impossible, not the unimaginative,
not copy clothed as original and surely
not bitter songs in european melodies. Take hold
do the necessary, the possible, the correctly simple
talk of mission & interpret destiny
put land and selfhood on the minds of our people
do the expected, do what all people do
reverse destruction. Capture tomorrows

Finding the Man for You

Advice from First Lady Michelle Obama:


Cute’s good. But cute only lasts for so long, and then it’s, Who are you as a person? That’s the advice I would give to women: Don’t look at the bankbook or the title. Look at the heart. Look at the soul. Look at how the guy treats his mother and what he says about women. How he acts with children he doesn’t know. And, more important, how does he treat you? When you’re dating a man, you should always feel good. You should never feel less than. You should never doubt yourself. You shouldn’t be in a relationship with somebody who doesn’t make you completely happy and make you feel whole. And if you’re in that relationship and you’re dating, then my advice is, don’t get married. Get out of it and find that person that brings you complete and utter joy with who you are at the moment.

Romantic Gesture #2080

 

Candles

Warm bath
















Jo Malone Nutmeg and Ginger Bath Oil

Wine

Esperanza Spalding cd

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips

-excerpt taken from 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran

the only way that you can truly love and respect you, is to be what you truly love and respect
-Akil

From the Mind of Tasha - THE OTHER WOMAN

You know the OTHER WOMAN. She is not like you because you would never allow things that happen to her to happen to you. Oh no, honey, you won't stand for it. She is the woman who begs a man not to leave her even though he abuses her emotionally and physically. She is the woman who stays with a man when she knows for a fact that he is cheating. She is a woman who day dreams about marrying a man who never calls her until his sexual needs have to be satisfied. She is the woman who buys gifts for a man in hopes that he will love her. She is the woman who turns her back on family and friends to satisfy the possessive nature of her man. She is woman who takes a lick or two every now and then and brushes it off because she feels she deserves it. She is the woman who sees her man flirting with another woman and she accepts it because he is coming home with her. She is the woman who supports her man financially but is cursed out when she asks him to mow the lawn or pick up the kids from school. Are you the OTHER WOMAN? Are you constantly on the losing end of the relationship war? Do constantly give more of yourself than you can ever expect in return? Do you lower your principles and standards just to be able to say you have a man? The fact of the matter is we have all been the OTHER WOMAN at some point in our lives. But at what point do we take a stand for ourselves and love ourselves?  At what point can we feel completely non-hypocritical when we tell our girlfriends to leave their worthless relationships? How can we give advice to the OTHER WOMAN when we are the OTHER WOMAN? Let's all make a pact to look at ourselves and our relationships and see if we have become the OTHER WOMAN that we secretly pity. I don't know about you, but starting today, I will no longer be the OTHER WOMAN.

  -Tasha

love is misunderstood....