Counselling With Coaching

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

Background Music: Nocturne In F Major, Op. 15, No. 1 by

Cecile Licad

Digital art inspired by John Everett Millais

L'amour dans la nuit

Parfois, quand tu t'allonges près de moi,

ton corps est toujours dans mes bras

Je me retrouve à moitié amoureux de ton

forme à peine respirante et à moitié amoureuse

avec la source silencieuse et muette

d'où tu viens. Je me trouve

toucher tes lèvres avec les miennes

sentir leur chaleur et baisser la tête

pour entendre ta respiration et m'apaiser

pour écouter au plus profond de toi la douce montée

et la chute de la marée qui me dit

tu es toujours libre d'aller et venir dans la vie,

pour que je prenne ta main dans la mienne pour ressentir

ton pouls et touche tes cheveux

et caresse ta joue et bouge mes lèvres

au vôtre pour sentir la chaleur émerger

de votre moi intérieur et à

tu vois, nous sommes toujours là et toujours engagés

pour respirer ce monde ensemble.

Toute la nuit comme ça, je me retrouve endormi

et éveillé, tourné vers la lune

puis je me suis tourné vers toi, ta chaleur

m'invitant à te rapprocher

et te laisse tranquille, toute la nuit je me retrouve

incapable de choisir entre l'amour

Je ressens pour toi à travers la proximité

et le chagrin de devoir te laisser partir

à travers la distance, de sorte qu'il semble

Je ne peux respirer pleinement que dans le noir

en t'accueillant et en te livrant

dans ton rythme tranquille d'apparition

et disparition, te laissant revenir

dans ta respiration et dans ta respiration,

ou tes phrases à moitié soupirées prononcées

dans le noir, murmuré depuis le rêve

dans lequel tu vis, pour que je mens

entre le sommeil et le réveil,

voyant que tu es là et rêvant que tu es parti,

vouloir te tenir et vouloir te laisser partir,

vivant loin en toi alors que tu respires près de moi,

et vivre bien au-delà de toi, pendant que j'attends

les heures de la nuit pour que tu te réveilles

et retrouve-moi, la lumière dans tes yeux

je rêve à moitié sur l'oreiller

en me regardant et en me voyant enfin,

ne sachant pas jusqu'où j'ai voyagé,

par quel chemin je suis venu pour te trouver,

où j'ai été, ou ce que j'ai vu,

à quelle distance ou à quelle distance ; ne sachant pas comment

Je t'ai gagné et perdu cent fois

entre l'obscurité et l'aube.

Melody in the Wind's Lament

In twilight's sigh, where shadows creep,

Beneath the moon's soft light, I keep.

I am the echo in the silent stream,

A fleeting vision in your dream.

I am the rose, with petals pale,

That whispers secrets in the gale.

In every tear that softly falls,

In whispered sighs within stone walls.

I am the melody in the wind's lament,

The fading hue when day is spent.

A wistful glance in lover's eyes,

A tear that falls from winter skies.

Though time may pass and seasons fly,

In memories, I'll never die.

So, do not weep or say goodbye,

For in your heart, forever I lie.

Creative process and inspiration: The style of the poem was inspired by Emily Dickinson. I imagined I died but the one who loves me is left behind to grieve my absence. I am comforting him... that in spirit I'll always be with him.

The cover art was inspired by Salvador Dalí's painting: Rose

The title of my cover art is Desolate Rose. I'll let the viewer interpret the symbolic meaning and how it relates to the poem.

"If you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hands." - Bob Proctor

*this really is the elegantly simply yet profoundly true wisdom about manifesting a life you desire*

Watch the video version of this track with captions: https://youtu.be/NyQQH-qyhq8

This is my creative tribute to the late, great Bob who has given hope and solace to millions around the world with his uplifting words and profound wisdom.

May your kind, beautiful soul rest in eternal peace. I'll always carry you in my heart Bob <3

Cover image: Original digital art - portrait of Bob Proctor

Love in the Night 🖤 Check out the video version of this poem here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gNUq_Ma71s

French version of this poem in another track

L'amour dans la nuit

I thought about kissing you today

and yesterday

and the day before that.

I know I'll think about kissing you

tomorrow

and the day after that

and some more days after those days.

I think about kissing you

slowly

and tracing my fingers along

your lips.

I think about kissing you

in your car, in the rain, on your doorstep.

I think about kissing your

dimple, your cheek, your spot.

I think about kissing only you

not anyone else

just you.

When your eyes are tired

the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone

no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark

where the night has eyes

to recognize its own.

There you can be sure

you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your home

tonight.

The night will give you a horizon

further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.

The world was made to be free in

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

- "Sweet Darkness" by David Whyte

In the words of David Whyte:

This poem was written out of that very physical and almost breathless giving away most human beings feel when they must let go of what seems most precious to them, not knowing how or when it will return, in what form or in what voice - that taking away of the light, walking through divorce or separation, through bereavement or through simply not recognising the person looking back at us in the mirror. 'Sweet Darkness' was written in a kind of defiant praise of this difficult time of not knowing, a letter of invitation to embrace the beauty of the night and of the foundational human experience of not being able to see, as actually another horizon, and perhaps the only horizon out of which a truly new revelation can emerge.

In Love's Wake

In dawn's gentle grasp, where silence lies,

Remnants of the lost softly rise.

Love lingers in the morning's hue,

A memory, steadfast and true.

With a spirit fierce, wild, and free,

Your essence swirls in every sea.

In waves that crash and tides that flow,

Your strength in me, forever aglow.

Words soft as night, a soothing spell,

Whispering secrets the stars tell.

In every glimmer, in moon's gentle sway,

Your touch guides me, night and day.

Wisdom whispers in the wind's soft sigh,

Teaching tears of joy, the strength to try.

In rustling leaves, in trees that sway,

I learn to live, in love's array.

In the sun's embrace, warm and bright,

A journey of love, bathed in light.

In every sunrise, in golden beams,

I feel your presence, in my dreams.

Passion's fire, in daylight's burn,

Ignites a flame at every turn.

In every spark, in radiant light,

Your energy guides me through the night.

In the ocean's depth, where secrets keep,

Reflections of our love, so deep.

In rolling waves, in the sea's embrace,

I find your essence, your timeless grace.

In every verse, in lines that rhyme,

Your love endures, beyond time.

Growing stronger with each new day,

In my heart, you'll always stay.

Image:

Digital portrait of a contemporary Orpheus lamenting after losing his wife.

Beauty is the harvest of presence - the evanescent moment of seeing or hearing on the outside what already lives far inside us.

Beauty is an achieved state of both deep attention and self-forgetting.

- David Whyte

Beauty requires three qualities: Integrity, Harmony and Radiance and the language of beauty according to Aristotle is Aesthetics

In the video I narrate one of my favourite writer David Whyte’s contemplation on Beauty and showcase some of my digital artwork inspired by

photography of the late Rodney Smith, and painters like Andrew Wyeth (I created my own version of Christina’s World - an evocative painting that fills me with longing and nostalgia) and John Everett Millais’ Ophelia.

Check out the full video at: https://youtu.be/P6c-SUoaBUk?si=eRbQ0_6TazEb9VTT

LOVER'S LAMENT

In the depths of my heart, a melancholic tune

Echoes through the chambers, like a mournful moon

A love lost, a heartbreak so profound

My soul aches, without a sound

I wander through the city streets, alone

A ghostly figure, with a heart of stone

Memories flood my mind, of love once pure

Now shattered, broken, and obscure

I search for solace, in the depths of my soul

But the pain lingers, like a black hole

An abyss of emptiness, where love once thrived

Now a void, where my heart has died

Yet, through the pain, I find a glimmer of hope

A chance to heal, to learn, to cope

For love, like life, is a journey to behold

And even in heartbreak, a new story can unfold

Poem by Syeda Rahman

Cover art: Prima Re Leoncia