Be gentle with yourself: a Villanelle, a french poem

Be busy at rest, allow your mind to still,

Remember times that caused your heart to sing;

Be gentle with yourself, be free.

Imagine the stories that the cloudy skies tell,

The pictures they form just to disperse again;

Be busy at rest, allow your mind to still.

Be at one with the birds, embrace their orchestral crescendo,

The rise and fall of the melody they create;

Be gentle with yourself, be free.

Let your mind float high on the breeze, like a feather,

Riding the thermals and obeying it's direction without question;

Be busy at rest, allow your mind to still

Be watchful, 'but careless', for what you see is not yours,

Not your problem to solve, not today;

Be gentle with yourself, be free.

And as you sit, in peaceful contemplation,

Deny any thoughts and embrace meditation;

Be busy at rest, allow your mind to still,

Be gentle with yourself, be free.