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...with a spirit of self-exploration |
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Pennine Tai Chi |
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Poetry |
Phoenix – Farid Al Din Attar – The Conference of Birds
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The Phoenix is a beautiful bird With a long beak that has almost one hundred holes.
Each hole produces a different note And each sound contains a particular secret.
It lives for almost a thousand years And knows the exact moment of its death.
When the yearning to return to its true home Begins to fill its heart, It gathers a pile of date palm leaves And upon entering the mound, Utters a plaintiff cry Sent out from the depths of its soul As its body trembles Like a leaf shaken helplessly by the wind.
At the sound of this cry, All the birds and the wild beasts gather To witness its passing.
While the Phoenix still has breath, It beats its wings and ruffles its feathers Causing the date palm leaves to catch fire.
The bird and the fire become one.
Finally there remains only one spark From which a new Phoenix arises. |
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Firebird - by Andrew Peno, illustration from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam |