Poem - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream

of meeting your heart's longing

It doesn't interest me how old you are

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,

for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled

and closed from fear of further pain

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own

without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it

I want to know of you can be with JOY, mine and your own

if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips

of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful... be realistic...or

to remember the limitations of being a human

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself

if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day

and if you can source your life from ITS presence

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine and still stand

on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "YES !"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you

have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone...and do what needs to be done for the children

It doesn't interest me who you are...how you came to be here

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Indian Elder MAY 1994.