“All True Vows” by David Whyte

All the True Vows
are secret vows,
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.

There is only one life 
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.

Hold to the truth you make
every day with your own body,
don’t turn your face away.

Hold to the truth
at the center of the image
you were born with,
don’t turn your face away…

Remember, 
in this place
no one can hear you

and out of the silence
you can make a new promise
it will kill you to break,

that way you’ll find out
what is real and what is not.

I know what I am saying.
Time almost forsook me
and I looked again.

Seeing my reflection
I broke a promise
and spoke
for the first time
after all these years

in my own voice,

before it was too late
to turn my face again.


SOURCE (to purchase the book): River Flow: New & Selected Poems

SOURCE (to purchase the book): The House of Belonging

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“Beloved Mother of All Thing”s by Thich Nhat Hanh