The Invitation To Say Goodbye To A Friend

The Invitation by Oriah

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 dream
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 centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled 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
if you can be with joy
mine or 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
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are 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.
If you can be faithless
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 own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the 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
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre 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.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,


Jeremy Ryan Yocom, 41 of Kansas City, MO, passed away Sunday, May 11, 2014 at his home. Ryan was born May 4, 1973 in Kansas City, MO, to Larry and Rena (nee Rickman) Yocom. Ryan was a hair stylist in the Kansas City Metro Area for many years, mostly at Encounters with Hair. Ryan is survived by his partner of 14 years, Gary Hall of the home; his parents, Larry and Rena Yocom of Edgerton, KS; his sister, Joy Yocom Gulley and brother-in-law Michael Trammell; two nephews, Tanner Ryan and Gage; niece Lindsey, all of Edgerton, KS;
paternal grandmother Ruth Fortel of Tulsa, OK, and multitude of close friends. Ryan truly loved life and he enjoyed his time spent with those he loved; he touched many lives in his 41 years and will be forever missed. Visitation for Ryan will be 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at the McGilley Midtown Chapel, 20 W. Linwood Blvd., Kansas City, MO. Funeral services will be 1:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Chapel. Burial will be in Oak Lawn Cemetery, 13901 Black Bob, Olathe, KS. The family requests contributions to the Good Samaritan Project of Kansas City, c\o Rhonda Adams, 3030 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64108 or online at www.gsp-kc.org/contributions. Fond memories and condolences may be offered at www.mcgilleymidtownchapel.com. McGilley Midtown Chapel, 20 W Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111, 816-753-6200 www.mcgilleymidtownchapel.com

Published in Kansas City Star on May 13, 2014



Published in Kansas City Star on May 13, 2014


The Road Home by Stephen Paulus

Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost, so long ago.
All these years I have wondered, oh when will I know,
There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home.

After wind, After rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream, in the gold of day,
Through the air there's a calling from far away,
There's a voice I can hear that will lead me home.

Rise up, follow me, come away is the call
With (the) love in your heart as the only song
There is no such beauty as where you belong
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.

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