Poem: Hand and Cheek
By W. Rian Adams
Hand and Cheek is a poem about communication… well, let’s be honest, it’s really a poem about a girl!! A very pretty girl I call the love of my life. Over the years I’ve learned that love often communicates without the need for words. As we stare into the eyes of someone who loves us, their eyes will tell a story as old as time.
Additionally, love is able to communicate through gentle or erotic touch. You can tell someone you love them and that you deeply desire them through the fingertips. Sometimes all it takes to say “I’m yours” is a gentle hand on a strong cheek.
Herman Hesse was a German poet. The Nazis banned his work and burned his books. He said it this way: “…she thoroughly taught him that one cannot take pleasure without giving pleasure and that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every last bit of the body has its secret, which brings happiness to the person who knows how to wake it. She taught him that after a celebration of love the lovers should not part without admiring each other… so that neither is bleak or glutted or has the bad feeling of being used or misused.”
Grace: A Poem For My Grandparents On Their 62nd Wedding Anniversary
My grandparents taught me the beauty and the subtle art of grace through their relationship. Today they celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary and as such I offer them this humble poem. They are people who are willing to suffer together because of their spirituality. Compassion for the other marked their relationship. It is quite challenging in a day when pop culture says that relationships are about ourselves.
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How To Be Happy: Poetry by Rian Adams
How to be happy is a question that has spawned thousands of ideas, books, and even religions. Everyone seems to have a simple answer to a very complex issue. We often overlook some of life most important lessons because we are too busy looking for life’s answers.
One thing being a priest has taught me is to avoid the people who have all the answers. The older I get the more questions I have. I’ve learned that the essence of happiness is living in the moment and welcoming the ambiguity of unknowing. Certainty is probably the enemy of happiness.
Joseph Campbell gave an outstanding speech on happiness in the book The Power of Myth. His main idea is that we gain happiness by chasing the thing in life that gives us bliss. So many people wander through life miserable because they never do what their hearts truly desire. The heart’s desire is often freedom.
However, often our bliss isn’t easily pursued because money is such a powerful motivator. We pursue happiness, and often find it, when we live in life’s ambiguity and not chase the certainty of security.
If you would like to read more of my poetry, please visit my poetry page.
