Living & Giving

Dan used to send out the annual Christmas Rankow family newsletter as a poem.  Sometimes brilliant, sometimes corny, always poignant and a joy to receive.

After he died this Summer, his family were sorting through his things and found a hand-written poem from when he was a young man.  In his absence, and his honour, I wanted to share it on this first Christmas without him.

Living & Giving
By Dan Rankow

Whatever you give away today, or think, or say, or do,

Will multiply about tenfold and then return to you;

It may not come immediately nor from the obvious source,

But the law applies unfailingly, through some invisible force;

Whatever you feel about another, be it love or hate or passion,

Will surely bounce right back at you, in some clear or secret fashion;

If we speak about some person, a word of praise or two,

Soon tens of other people will speak kind words to you;

Our thoughts are broadcasts of the soul, not secrets of the brain,

Kind ones bring us happiness, petty ones untold pain;

Giving works as surely as reflections in a mirror,

With hate you send, hate you will get back, but loving brings love nearer;

Remember as you start this day, and duty clouds your mind,

That kindness comes so quickly back, to those who first are kind;

Let that thought and this one, direct you through each day,

The only things we ever teach, are the things we give away.

Shaun H. Coley ~ Archway ~ Islington ~ London N19 ~ UK