Poetry to Inspire and Support Family Mediation

We offer some of our favorite poetry and artwork as a source of support and inspiration for resolving family disputes mindfully.

"WHEN THE VIOLIN" 
The Gift, Hafiz, 
~ Translations by Daniel Ladinsky ~

When 
The violin 
Can forgive the past

It starts singing.

When the violin can stop worrying
About the future

You will become
Such a drunk laughing nuisance

That God 
Will then lean down 
And start combing you into 
His 
Hair

When the violin can forgive 
Every wound caused by 
Others

The heart starts 
Singing.  

 

Clownfish, by Palm Springs Artist Snake Jagger  

"OUT OF THIS MESS" 
The Gift, Hafiz, 
~ Translations by Daniel Ladinsky ~

Pray 
to be humble 
So that God does not 
Have to be so stingy.

O pray to be honest. 
Strong. 
Kind. 
And pure.

So that the Beloved is never miscast
As a cruel great miser.

I know that you have a hundred complex cases
Against God in court.

But never mind wayfarer,
Let's just get of this mess.

And pray to be loving and humble
So that the Friend will be forced to reveal

Himself
So

Near! 

 

Stoneface, by Palm Springs Photographer/Teacher Andrew Hollinger

"WILD GEESE"
~ Mary Oliver ~
 

You do not have to be good. 
You do not have to walk on your knees 
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. 

You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves.

Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
are moving across the landscapes, 
over the prairies and the deep trees, 
the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
the world offers itself to your imagination, 
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting - 
over and over announcing your place 
in the family of things.  


 

"DEFUSE ME" 
 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~  
(in Call Me by My True Names)

If I were a bomb 
ready to explode 
if I have become 
dangerous to your life, 
then you must take care of me, 
but how?

I am here, right in your midst. 
(You cannot remove me from your life.) 
And I may explode 
at anytime. 
I need your care. 
I need your time. 
I need you to defuse me. 
You are responsible for me 
because you have made the vow 
(and I heard it) to love and to care.

I know that to take care of me 
you need much patience, 
much coolness. 
I realize that in you 
there is also a bomb to be defused.
 
So why don't we help each other?

I need you to listen to me 
No one understands my suffering, 
including the ones who say they love me. 
The pain inside me 
is suffocating me. 
It is the TNT 
that makes up the bomb. 
There is no one else 
who will listen to me. 
That is why I need you. 
But you seem to be getting away from me. 
You want to run for your safety, 
the kind of safety
that does not exist.

I have not created my own bomb. 
It is you. 
It is society. 
It is family. 
It is school. 
It is tradition. 
So please don't blame me for it. 
Come and help; 
if not, I will explode. 
This is not a threat. 
It is only a plea for help 
when it is your turn.

"THE LOST AND THE FOUND 
AND THOSE IN BETWEEN" 
 

~ T.W. Arnold, DFMS Mediator ~ 

Unconditional love is something we humans yearn for, 
but just endlessly. 

The difficulties of relationship break up prove this to be true, 
but only every time. 

Animals, friends and family 
are not 
merely a sanctuary 
when we are all working well 

But a ready invitation 
for redemption when we are not - 
every, every, every day. 

In this way 
devotion 
to special creatures, 
like children, 
animals 
our inner child, 
and you ... 

Teaches that not only can we carry on 
- but how to. 

 

Blessings to all the beings whom you hold dear.... 
 
and 
to Those in the Middle! 

 
Jake Arnold, 'Mediator Dog'