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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">The Invitation - Poem<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">By Oriah Mountain Dreamer<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">It doesn't interest me<br>
what you do for a living.<br>
I want to know<br>
what you ache for<br>
and if you dare to dream<br>
of meeting your heart's longing.<br>
<br>
It doesn't interest me<br>
how old you are.<br>
I want to know <br>
if you will risk <br>
looking like a fool<br>
for love<br>
for your dream<br>
for the adventure of being alive.<br>
<br>
It doesnt interest me<br>
what planets are <br>
squaring your moon...<br>
I want to know<br>
if you have touched<br>
the centre of your own sorrow<br>
if you have been opened<br>
by life's betrayals<br>
or have become shrivelled and closed<br>
from fear of further pain.<br>
<br>
I want to know<br>
if you can sit with pain<br>
mine or your own<br>
without moving to hide it<br>
or fade it<br>
or fix it.<br>
<br>
I want to know<br>
if you can be with joy<br>
mine or your own<br>
if you can dance with wildness<br>
and let the ecstasy fill you <br>
to the tips of your fingers and toes<br>
without cautioning us<br>
to be careful<br>
to be realistic<br>
to remember the limitations<br>
of being human.<br>
<br>
It doesn't interest me<br>
if the story you are telling me<br>
is true.<br>
I want to know if you can<br>
disappoint another<br>
to be true to yourself.<br>
If you can bear<br>
the accusation of betrayal<br>
and not betray your own soul.<br>
If you can be faithless<br>
and therefore trustworthy.<br>
<br>
I want to know if you can see Beauty<br>
even when it is not pretty<br>
every day.<br>
And if you can source your own life<br>
from its presence.<br>
<br>
I want to know<br>
if you can live with failure<br>
yours and mine<br>
and still stand at the edge of the lake<br>
and shout to the silver of the full moon,<br>
"Yes."<br>
<br>
It doesn't interest me<br>
to know where you live<br>
or how much money you have.<br>
I want to know if you can get up<br>
after the night of grief and despair<br>
weary and bruised to the bone<br>
and do what needs to be done<br>
to feed the children.<br>
<br>
It doesn't interest me<br>
who you know<br>
or how you came to be here.<br>
I want to know if you will stand<br>
in the center of the fire<br>
with me<br>
and not shrink back.<br>
<br>
It doesn't interest me<br>
where or what or with whom<br>
you have studied.<br>
I want to know <br>
what sustains you<br>
from the inside<br>
when all else falls away.<br>
<br>
I want to know<br>
if you can be alone <br>
with yourself<br>
and if you truly like<br>
the company you keep<br>
in the empty moments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-invitation-by-oriah-mountain-dreamer">https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-invitation-by-oriah-mountain-dreamer</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/">http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/</a><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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