How bright is the soul
that dares to stand alone
who gives voice to injustice
who is willing to sacrifice
self for a higher purpose?
What song might we sing
if such a spirit moved us?
(Image my own)
How bright is the soul
that dares to stand alone
who gives voice to injustice
who is willing to sacrifice
self for a higher purpose?
What song might we sing
if such a spirit moved us?
(Image my own)
Extract the miracle
from the celebrated
Each story is lifeless
until told – its patterns
Stubborn, are innate –
We all crave renewal
I crave renewal
arms extended
fists unfolded
Believe in will –
the power to breathe life
into inert corners
Does not life support us?
Is not consciousness infinite?
and the divine patient?
Yesterday, I gave up
resigned myself to failure
(It’s a joke I play on myself)
This soul labours to find meaning
and I will breathe life into form
until quitting time finds me cleansed.
(Art my own)
Creativity partners more with chaos than clarity
It craves colour, light, darkness
movement not supported by 2 dimensions
I delude myself into thinking that words,
cleverly positioned, can decipher the compulsion
fail to understand that soul, unchained, has no words
It is the free-flowing expression of music, dance
It follows the murmuration of birds, and
crawls along the earth, serpent-like
I seek the intimacy of knowing other –
raw and unblemished – but how can this be?
We are form emerging from mystery
That I should find you, Love,
there amid the noise of awakening
then I am more than blessed
Your mind reaches for the definable
while I drowsily bask in sensations
our coming together never akin to wholeness
Yet explosive in its imperfection
Oh, if we could see the artistry
 arising from two souls seeking unity
Comprehend that we are the instrument
the vessel through which creativity speaks
a magnificent tribute to Life’s source.
(Art is a combination of my own effort and AI.)
It is like shopping
in a department store –
lots of options
but no currency –
soul impoverished
How bright is the soul
that dares to stand alone,
who gives voice to injustice
who is willing to sacrifice
self for a higher purpose…
What song might we sing
should such a spirit move us?
(Image my own.
Soul Power first appeared here May, 2018)
It wasn’t the knowledge of stability –
chaos had the upper hand back then.
It wasn’t even that love was expressed –
unconditional an unheard of concept
It was an unspoken presence
the reassurance of rocks
the irrepressible allure
of a freshwater stream
How a child’s heart
found encouragement
in the whispering wind
solace in arbored shelter
Naturally the din of home life
overpowered this self-assured
passage, disrupted kinship
and shattered childish faith
But all that is behind now
and when I clear cluttering
thoughts, disperse static
emotions, still the heart
The rhythms are still there –
presence offering sustenance…
(Image my own)
“What in your life is calling you, when all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned…the lists laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest…
what still pulls on your soul? “
– Rumi
I dwell in silence
meetings adjourned
list groceries
Former self faded
sorrowful shadow
definition slipped
I am the wild iris
pushing forward
in darkness, unseen
In contemplation
future doors heavy
snowy the path
If I follow light
I find promise
a verdant valley
I am guided
no destination
only presence
Physical constraints
merely distraction
I am the message
Light, shepherd
dreamer, woman
warrior, goddess
My soul pulls
invites passage
I am ready.
(Written in response to my weekly challenge – opening quotation. After meditating on Rumi’s words the image emerged and later this poem.)
Don’t believe in soulmates
just soul power – the ability
of human yearning to actuate
love’s potential –
Of course, I’m far from a rookie
bear the scars of infatuation’s
fallout, prefer kindness
and respect to romantic fluff.
(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.  Image my own.)
Nine months of incubation –
dark, watery womb of life –
emerge to blinding brightness,
learn to covet the light –
yet our soul struggles, defies
ego’s hold on certainty –
fights against conformity,
draws us back to the tomb –
deep into the mysteries,
where discomforted, challenged
we grow accustomed to the dark.
(For Reena’s Exploration challenge, which this week asks us to end our work with: “We grow accustomed to the dark.” Â Image from personal collection.)
How bright is the soul
that dares to stand alone,
who gives voice to injustice,
who is willing to sacrifice
self for a higher purpose…
What song might we sing
if such a spirit moved us?