People Should Read More...#1

After getting out of school, where people are forced to read some poetry as part of various English classes, I would venture to guess that maybe 1 in 1,000 people, probably less, actually read any poetry at any time later in life. (I am in the 999 by the way). That is a shame, as there is a lot of really wonderful stuff out there...

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, If God choose,
I shall love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sonnets from the Portugese XLIII

Think about it. "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach". And "I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!" We should all be this fortunate.
---

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay

And some are just beautiful in their simplicity.