L.M. Browning's Blog, page 28
October 14, 2011
What is Success and What is Failure?
As I approach the release of my first full-length novel I find myself pondering the meaning of success and failure. "Voices in the Night" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the first book of poetry I ever read. When I bought it, some 15 years ago now, I inserted my bookmark at my favorite poem, "Success and Failure" and I never took it out. For the last 15 years the book has sat on my shelf with the marker protruding from the top and I revisit his words again and again. The poem is a comfort to me when I feel the sadness of defeat and it is calming to me when I feel the terror of actual success. In my mind, Bonhoeffer perfectly describes these two states that, in the end, can feel quite similar. Continue on to read the poem here >>
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October 13, 2011
What is Success? What is Failure?
As I approach the release of my first full-length novel I find myself pondering the meaning of success and failure. "Voices in the Night" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the first book of poetry I ever read. When I bought it, some 15 years ago now, I inserted my bookmark at my favorite poem, "Success and Failure" and I never took it out. For the last 15 years the book has sat on my shelf with the marker protruding from the top and I revisit his words again and again. The poem is a comfort to me when I feel the sadness of defeat and it is calming to me when I feel the terror of actual success. In my mind, Bonhoeffer perfectly describes these two states that, in the end, can feel quite similar.
Success and Failure
By: Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his collection "Voices in the Night"
Translation by: Edwin Robertson
Success and failure
suddenly strike and overpower us,
both the same at first,
like the touch of burning heat and freezing cold,
indistinguishable.
Like meteors
flung from distant heavens
blazing and threatening,
over our heads.
Those visited stand bemused
amidst the ruins
of their dull, daily lives.
Success is full of foreboding
failure has its sweetness.
Without distinction they appear
the one or the other
from the unknown.
Both are proud and terrible
People come from far and wide,
walk by and look,
pausing to stare,
half envious, half afraid,
at the outrage,
where the supernatural
blessing and curing at the same time,
entangle and disentangle,
sets forth the drama of human life.
What is success and what is failure?
Time alone distinguishes.
When the incomprehensible, exciting
sudden event
lapses into wearisome waiting,
when the creeping hours of the day
first reveal the true outlines of failure,
then most give up
weary monotony
of oft-repeat failure,
disappointed and bored with themselves.
The hour of steadfast love,
the hour of the mother and the beloved,
the hour of the friend and the brother.
Steadfast love transforms all failure
and gently cradles it
in the soft
radiance of heavenly light.
October 9, 2011
Withered | A Poem
Withered
by: L.M. Browning
Autumn without color
Is death without transformation.
The storms that ragged over the summer,
Rung out all color from leaves.
Leaving them bruised upon the bow
And our world bleak and bereaved.
Header Photo by L.M. Browning
October 2, 2011
Social Media
Sign up for the Seasonal Bound Leaves Newsletter!
From time to time over the coming year I will be sending out updates on my travels, reading events, current projects and forthcoming titles. If you would like to receive this free seasonal e-newsletter sign up here. Or click on the link found on the right-hand bar of my homepage. Please be assured that all addresses submitted are kept confidential and secure. Thank you for your support.
Updates will now also be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Google+!
Sign up for Seasonal Updates!
From time to time over the coming year I will be sending out updates on my travels, reading events, current projects and forthcoming titles. If you would like to receive this free seasonal e-newsletter sign up here. Or click on the link found on the right-hand bar of my homepage. Please be assured that all addresses submitted are kept confidential and you will not be inundated with unwanted emails. Thank you for your support.
October 1, 2011
Quarterly Newsletter
From time to time over the coming year I will be sending out updates on my travels, reading events, current projects and forthcoming titles. If you would like to receive this free seasonal e-newsletter sign up here. Or click on the link found on the right-hand bar of my homepage. Please be assured that all addresses submitted are kept confidential and secure. Thank you for your support.
Updates will now also be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Google+!
September 7, 2011
Thoughts & Reflections
"Gather what is worthy of your devotion and never betray it. So that, in the end, you will know that, though you be small, you poured out all that you are into what was greater and in doing so, became a part of it." — Excerpt from the poem "The Truce" recently added to my Bound Leaves poetry blog.
September 4, 2011
The Truce | A Poem
The Truce
by: L.M. Browning
Pluck a strand of wind
and listen to the trees quiver.
Run until your heart pounds
and watch the stagnant surface of the pond ripple.
Throw back the suffocating blankets of false comfort
and let yourself feel the renewal of the rain.
Only when we overcome our fear of being alone with ourselves
can we come to know the company that is always with us.
In surrendering
we are cradled.
In accepting
we are able to impart.
In knelling
we stand taller.
Gather what is worthy of your devotion
and never betray it.
So that,
in the end,
you will know that,
though you be small,
you poured out all that you are
into what was greater
and in doing so,
became a part of it.
Header Photo by L.M. Browning
