You are my happiness and you are my joy
All that is heavenly
I found in one man

Oh darling, my darling
I’ll always be true
That is my promise, my promise to you

(Now, I wasn’t born yet when this song flooded the charts, but this song is my parents’ theme song so it means something to me)

It isnt your sweet conversation
That brings this sensation, oh no
Its just the nearness of you

When youre in my arms and I feel you so close to me
All my wildest dreams come true

I need no soft lights to enchant me
If youll only grant me the right
To hold you ever so tight
And to feel in the night the nearness of you

You ask me if I love you
And I choke on my reply
I’d rather hurt you honestly
Than mislead you with a lie
And who am I to judge you
On what you say or do?
I’m only just beginning to see the real you

And sometimes when we touch
The honesty’s too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

Romance and all its strategy
Leaves me battling with my pride
But through the insecurity
Some tenderness survives
I’m just another writer
Still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prize fighter
Still trapped within my youth

And sometimes when we touch
The honesty’s too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

At times I’d like to break you
And drive you to your knees
At times I’d like to break through
And hold you endlessly

At times I understand you
And I know how hard you’ve tried
I’ve watched while love commands you
And I’ve watched love pass you by

At times I think we’re drifters
Still searching for a friend
A brother or a sister
But then the passion flares again

And sometimes when we touch
The honesty’s too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

Nuestras almas se acercaron tanto asi

Que yo guardo tu sabor pero tu llevas tambien Sabor a mi.

Sin negaras mi presencia en tu vivir

Bastaria con abrazarte y conversar.

Tanta vida yo te di que por fuerza tienes ya Sabor a mi.

No pretendo ser tu dueno.

No soy nada, yo no tengo vanidad.

De mi vida, doy lo bueno

Soy tan pobre que otra cosa puedo dar?

Pasaran mas de mil anos, muchos mas.

Yo no se si tenga amor la eternidad.

Pero alla tal como aqui, en la boca llevaras

Sabor a mi.

Sabor a mi (A taste of me) by Eydie Gorme y Los Panchos (Mexico)

Spain, Spanish, Songs, Lyrics translated into English
Sabor a mi (A taste of me) by Eydie Gorme y Los Panchos (Mexico)
Translation: Laura

Tanto tiempo disfrutamos de este amor
For so long we have enjoyed this love
Nuestras almas se acercaron tanto así
our souls got so close
Que yo guardo tu sabor
that I keep your taste (1)
pero tu llevas tambien
but you also carry
sabor a mí
a taste of me

Sin negaras mi presencia en tu vivir
If you would deny my presence in your life
bastaría con abrazarte y conversar
it would suffice to embrace you and to talk (2)
Tanta vida yo te di
so much (of my) live I gave to you
que por fuerza tienes ya
that you cannot help but having
sabor a mí
a taste of me

No pretendo ser tu dueño
I am not trying to be your owner
No soy nada, yo no tengo vanidad
I am nothing, I have not vanity
De mi vida, doy lo bueno
Of my life, I give the good (the best)
Soy tan pobre que otra cosa puedo dar?
I am so poor, what else can I give?

Pasarán mas de mil años
A thousand years may pass
muchos más
many more
Yo no se si tenga amor la eternidad
I dont know whether love exist in eternity
Pero alla tal como aquí
But there just as here
en la boca llevaras
in the mouth you will carry
sabor a mí
a taste of me

(1) sabor= taste, flavor. Here it is used in a poetic way, meaning “a trace of you remains within me and you also have taken on a trace of me”.
(2) to prove that I am still part of your life.

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

By: E.E. Cummings

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master,
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

——————————————————————————————-

The Story behind the poem:

Rudyard Kipling’s inspirational poem – ‘If’

Rudyard Kipling’s (1865-1936) inspirational poem ‘If’ first appeared in his collection ‘Rewards and Fairies’ in 1909. The poem ‘If’ is inspirational, motivational, and a set of rules for ‘grown-up’ living. Kipling’s ‘If’ contains mottos and maxims for life, and the poem is also a blueprint for personal integrity, behaviour and self-development. ‘If’ is perhaps even more relevant today than when Kipling wrote it, as an ethos and a personal philosophy. Lines from Kipling’s ‘If’ appear over the player’s entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court – a poignant reflection of the poem’s timeless and inspiring quality.

The beauty and elegance of ‘If’ contrasts starkly with Rudyard Kipling’s largely tragic and unhappy life. He was starved of love and attention and sent away by his parents; beaten and abused by his foster mother; and a failure at a public school which sought to develop qualities that were completely alien to Kipling. In later life the deaths of two of his children also affected Kipling deeply.

Rudyard Kipling achieved fame quickly, based initially on his first stories and poems written in India (he returned there after College), and his great popularity with the British public continued despite subsequent critical reaction to some of his more conservative work, and critical opinion in later years that his poetry was superficial and lacking in depth of meaning.

Significantly, Kipling turned down many honours offered to him including a knighthood, Poet Laureate and the Order of Merit, but in 1907 he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature. Kipling’s wide popular appeal survives through other works, notably The Jungle Book (1894) the novel, Kim (1901), and Just So Stories (1902).

Kipling is said to have written the poem ‘If’ with Dr Leander Starr Jameson in mind, who led about five-hundred of his countrymen in a failed raid against the Boers, in southern Africa. The ‘Jameson Raid’ was later considered a major factor in starting the Boer War (1899-1902).

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Below is the realy story behind the this very popular poem Desiderata

Max Ehrmann was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 16, 1872. His parents were German immigrants. Ehrmann graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle in 1894, after which he studied law and philosophy at Harvard University.

Ehrmann returned to Terre Haute to practice law, following which (early 1900′s) he began writing, apparently obsessively. Max Ehrmann was known as the ‘Poet Laureate’ of Terre Haute.

Ehrmann wrote many poems, although none became well known until after his death. Aside from Desiderata his most famous poem is A Prayer, written in 1906.

Max Ehrmann originally copyrighted Desiderata in 1927 as ‘Go Placidly Amid The Noise And Haste’. The copyright number was 962402, dated 3rd January.

Ehrmann included Desiderata in a Christmas message to his friends in 1933, and significantly never added any copyright notice, a factor which featured strongly in legal considerations in the 1970′s about Desiderata copyright.

US Army psychiatrist Merill Moore wrote in 1942 to Ehrmann that he used the Desiderata poem in his therapy work, and also wrote to Ehrmann in 1944 suggesting that the poem should be bottled and sold as ‘Dr Ehrmann’s Magic Soul Medicine’. Communications between Moore and Ehrmann featured strongly in legal considerations in the 1970′s about Desidarata copyright.

Max married Bertha three months before his death in 1945. Bertha Scott King Ehrmann was from New York; she graduated from Smith College, wrote, taught, and published a book called The Worth of a Girl. Three months after Max Ehrmann’s death, Bertha published four of his books.

Max Ehrmann’s widow Bertha published the Desiderata poem with some other of his work in 1948, in a collection titled The Poems Of Max Ehrmann. She re-renewed the Desiderata copyright in 1948 and 1954.

Bertha Ehrmann died in 1962, upon which the copyright ownership passed to her nephew Richmond Wight. Wight later sold the copyright for an undisclosed amount to Crescendo Publishing Company in 1975.

Seemingly in 1959 (some say 1957) Reverend Frederick Kates produced around just 200 copies of his inspirational works collection featuring Desiderata, which sparked the confusion and myth that endures today. By the late 1970′s Old St Paul’s Church was receiving 40 enquiries a week as to the origins of the Desiderata poem.

A copy of the Desiderata poem (a version linked to 1692 and The Old St Paul’s Church) was found on Democratic politician Adlai Stevenson’s bedside table after his death in 1965 – supposedly Stevenson was intending to use what he believed to be the ancient poem in his Christmas cards, and this much publicised discovery did much to increase the fame and myth of Desidarata.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry kept a copy of Desiderata in his office.

The Desiderata verse was a big selling Athena poster during the late 1900′s.

Desiderata is Latin and means ‘things that are yearned for’, which in the context of the poem more closely means ‘essential things’.

Inspired by an Athena or similar poster, singer Les Crane used the Desiderata words in his 1971 hit pop record, for which he received a Grammy award for the ‘best spoken word recording’. Supposedly Les Crane saw the Desiderata verse on a poster and believed the words to be in the public domain, but then (so the story goes) had to share his royalties with the then Desiderata copyright owners.

Amazingly there is some doubt today as to whether Ehrmann’s final line of Desiderata began ‘Be careful…’, or ‘Be cheerful..’ Most modern interpretations, including the one here, use the latter.

Confusion has surrounded Desiderata copyright and usage and whether or not the poem is in the public domain. A key judgement was made following the Desiderata poem’s publication in the August 1971 issue of Success Unlimited magazine, after which Desiderata became the source of a copyright court battle (Bell v. Combined Registry Co., 536 F.2d 164 - 7th Cir., 1976) between Robert L Bell (owner) and Combined Registry Company (publisher). The court decided on 14 May 1976 in favour of Combined Registry Company. Bell has however apparently succeeded since then with other claims, so caution is advisable if intending to publish or exploit the Desidarata work for profit. Look on the web for more precise up-to-date details about copyright and ownership.

Let me recall the day when I first met you…
I looked deep into your eyes that probed mine
and saw that familiar spark that brought
memories from a hundred years and before
then I knew I have loved you before the earth
was earth, before the clouds have earned
their glitters when the sun sets, and before
the moon has learned to shine at night
where only the deep hollows of darkness
sheltered the one greatest light, and our sparks.

I have loved you the moment our flames burned…
to bring forth warmth and experience cold
to feel pain and sorrow, so joy can be sweeter
and wisdom could be deeper amid the flaws
and I love you now despite the entanglements
our twin souls have made, as we let our lives
grow with knowledge through the roles we play
and I will love you still even after death, as we
venture into future lifetimes of perfection
and until we unite again with the greatest source.

(I wrote this poem when I still believe in reincarnation)
May 2, 1998

Beyond the train of stars I groped for the light
but my gaze could not cut through the infinite depths of darkness,
that even the bright fullness of the moon
was just a faint sphere in the black empty space.

Rivers that flowed inside long forgotten caves, too,
haven’t seen the day, yet, why the serene pebbles underneath,
a familiar tickle and the hovering bats’ steady breathing
a lullaby to the waters’ droopy eyes?

Yearning for a spark, so answers be shed –
why the rain has to kiss the grounds, like tears do on my cheeks,
washing traces of memories but not the softening scar,
just a taste of an angry sea wave?

Answers seem elusive, but the night’s feathery breeze
whispered, so I may feel my cold heart’s whimper
long drowned in the abyss unfathomed by the sun
but softly cuddled by a warm touch, though not mine

Never did I imagine that such warmth exists, but I know,
unlike nocturnal eyes, my heart is meant to see the light
but by what magic or spell I can’t fully understand,
what I’m sure, my heart never had such glow until you came…

Published on December 25, 1998

mga kamot nga walay hugas

panagway nga nagkabulingit

sininang gisi

walay tsinelas

sa dalan nagpanawag…

limos… noy, nang…

kang kinsang anak kini?

(May 25, 1995)