The first stanza of "White Lotus"   which appeared first as a poem in its own right in 2005, has been published in a couple of books, magazines, a Smith & Hawken garden calendar, and in various places on the internet (some with and some without permission from me). I'm happy for the poem, as one stanza or the entire poem (completed in 2008), as it developed, to be quoted. I do want to be asked for permission first. If you like it, or other of my poems, and decide to quote the poem on an internet site, please make sure to credit my authorship with my name, and send me a link to your site where it is to be (or is currently) published:

At dawn I asked the lotus,
"What is the meaning of life?"
Slowly, she opened her hand
with nothing in it.

DW Bender (Debra Woolard Bender)
2005

If you wish to publish in a book or other printed material, please contact me for permission.

Thanks and enjoy!
Debi

It's the end of 2013, December 18. I've finally been able to access my 3 blogs, which I've not been able to access since 2008!!!! I found that I had an error in a spelling for an address for signing in. It took me, how long? ... 5 1/2 years? Not sure if I'll be posting much more...maybe, maybe not. But I've updated my email addresses, etc., for contacts.