Quote: Desire for land

Source: School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland

Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head.

~ John Steinbeck 

Quote: Desire for land

Source: School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland

Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head.

~ John Steinbeck 

Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven

They call each other “E”. Elvis picks

wildflowers near the river and brings

them to Emily. She explains half-rhymes to him.

In heaven Emily wears her hair long, sports

Levis and western blouses with rhinestones.

Elvis is lean again, wears baggy trousers

and T-shirts, a letterman’s jacket from Tupelo High.

They take long walks and often hold hands.

She prefers they remain just friends. Forever.

Emily’s poems now contain naugahyde, Cadillacs,

Electricity, jets, TV, Little Richard and Richard

Nixon. The rock-a-billy rhythm makes her smile.

Elvis likes himself with style. This afternoon

he will play guitar and sing “I Taste a Liquor

Never Brewed” to the tune of “Love Me Tender.”

Emily will clap and harmonize. Alone

in their cabins later, they’ll listen to the river

and nap. They will not think of Amherst

or Las Vegas. They know why God made them

roommates. It’s because America

was their hometown. It’s because

God is a thing without

feathers. It’s because

God wears blue suede shoes.

~ Hans Ostrom

Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven

They call each other “E”. Elvis picks

wildflowers near the river and brings

them to Emily. She explains half-rhymes to him.

In heaven Emily wears her hair long, sports

Levis and western blouses with rhinestones.

Elvis is lean again, wears baggy trousers

and T-shirts, a letterman’s jacket from Tupelo High.

They take long walks and often hold hands.

She prefers they remain just friends. Forever.

Emily’s poems now contain naugahyde, Cadillacs,

Electricity, jets, TV, Little Richard and Richard

Nixon. The rock-a-billy rhythm makes her smile.

Elvis likes himself with style. This afternoon

he will play guitar and sing “I Taste a Liquor

Never Brewed” to the tune of “Love Me Tender.”

Emily will clap and harmonize. Alone

in their cabins later, they’ll listen to the river

and nap. They will not think of Amherst

or Las Vegas. They know why God made them

roommates. It’s because America

was their hometown. It’s because

God is a thing without

feathers. It’s because

God wears blue suede shoes.

~ Hans Ostrom

Quote on heaven

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Heaven, such as it is, is right here on earth. Behold: my revelation: I stand at the door in the morning, and lo, there is a newspaper, in sight like unto an emerald. And holy, holy, holy is the coffee, which was, and is, and is to come. And hark, I hear the voice of an angel round about the radio saying, "Since my baby left me I found a new place to dwell." And lo, after this I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, of shoes. And after these things I will hasten unto a taxicab and to a theater, where a ticket will be given unto me, and lo, it will be a matinee, and a film that doeth great wonders. And when it is finished, the heavens will open, and out will cometh a rain fragrant as myrrh, and yea, I have an umbrella.

~ Sarah Vowell

Quote on heaven

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Heaven, such as it is, is right here on earth. Behold: my revelation: I stand at the door in the morning, and lo, there is a newspaper, in sight like unto an emerald. And holy, holy, holy is the coffee, which was, and is, and is to come. And hark, I hear the voice of an angel round about the radio saying, "Since my baby left me I found a new place to dwell." And lo, after this I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, of shoes. And after these things I will hasten unto a taxicab and to a theater, where a ticket will be given unto me, and lo, it will be a matinee, and a film that doeth great wonders. And when it is finished, the heavens will open, and out will cometh a rain fragrant as myrrh, and yea, I have an umbrella.

~ Sarah Vowell

Not they who soar

Photo credit: anitapatterson from morguefile.com

Not they who soar, but they who plod 

Their rugged way, unhelped, to God

Are heroes; they who higher fare,

And, flying, fan the upper air,

Miss all the toil that hugs the sod.

'Tis they whose backs have felt the rod,

Whose feet have pressed the path unshod,

May smile upon defeated care,

Not they who soar.

High up there are no thorns to prod,

Nor boulders lurking 'neath the clod

To turn the keenness of the share,

For flight is ever free and rare;

But heroes they the soil who've trod,

Not they who soar!

~ Paul Laurence Dunbar

__________________________________

Men are admitted into Heaven not because they have curbed and governed their passions or have no passions, but because they have cultivated their understandings. The treasures of Heaven are not negations of passion, but realities of intellect, from which all the passions emanate uncurbed in their eternal glory. The fool shall not enter into Heaven let him be ever so holy.

~ William Blake

Not they who soar

Photo credit: anitapatterson from morguefile.com

Not they who soar, but they who plod 

Their rugged way, unhelped, to God

Are heroes; they who higher fare,

And, flying, fan the upper air,

Miss all the toil that hugs the sod.

'Tis they whose backs have felt the rod,

Whose feet have pressed the path unshod,

May smile upon defeated care,

Not they who soar.

High up there are no thorns to prod,

Nor boulders lurking 'neath the clod

To turn the keenness of the share,

For flight is ever free and rare;

But heroes they the soil who've trod,

Not they who soar!

~ Paul Laurence Dunbar

__________________________________

Men are admitted into Heaven not because they have curbed and governed their passions or have no passions, but because they have cultivated their understandings. The treasures of Heaven are not negations of passion, but realities of intellect, from which all the passions emanate uncurbed in their eternal glory. The fool shall not enter into Heaven let him be ever so holy.

~ William Blake