The Invitation: A Poem to Live By

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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 dreams 

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 center 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’s 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 or mine

and still stand on 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 a 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 center 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.