17 January 2018

A New Dawn for the Soul

A New Dawn for the Soul


Lift up your eyes upon 
This day breaking for you.
Give birth again                    
To the dream. ~ Maya Angelou*


I’ve got a soul.  You’ve got a soul.
All God’s children have souls.**
All life in all forms has souls.

And to heal the soul of our nation
and to heal the soul of the earth
learn this experientially.

In the absence of a child or an elephant
try knowing with a loving pet—
a cat or dog a horse or a turtle.

Saying the word helps: Soul.
There.  I’ve said it seven times.
Seven times seven

is the recipe for forgiveness
is the repetition for reparation
is the prescription for what ails us

who are soul-sick.
Whether we know it or not
we are in an epidemic



 


and no quarantine
protects the earth from us
when we lie down with it

and wake to drip hot desire on it
instead of the light from within
that sees with the Light of All

Creation.  Here is the paradox:
Does the soul radiate its light
from or to us?  We don’t know.

Are we the home of soul
or is each body of life
a way station of soul? 

If the paradox were solved,
would that change how we act?
Soul Soul Soul—that’s seven more

Souls.  I swallow the word.
Not knowing what soul is, I plant 
the word in my mind, heart, body.

Soul grows truth: Not mere sound 
or symbol, soul is the entire breath 
needed to protect and extend life.



*from her "On the Pulse of Morning"
**based on Black Spiritual "GOING TO SHOUT


For my prompt 

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Psyche / Soul



My blog poems are rough drafts. 

Please respect my copyright. 


© 2018 Susan L. Chast


15 comments:

  1. I love the progression of the thoughts. I love to think soul as self luminous giving us light of knowledge. Such a beautiful poem!

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  2. MY goodness this is good!💞 Such a wonderfully deep and introspective poem this is, Susan. Especially love; " Are we the home of soul or is each body of life a way station of soul?" This thought will stay with me for a while.💞

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  3. My new favourite of yours. I loved every line. I especially resonate with the lines about us being soul-sick, whether we know it or not. So true, on a global scale. Though thankfully many exhibit radiant light to show us it is still possible - even, actually, NECESSARY. We need light like never before. Loved this one, my friend.

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  4. God is seven - I love the chain of thought here and the exploration of the soul

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  5. Superb poem Susan. I love the questions and the affirmation I agree with, everything has a soul, an essence. I must reread this. It is full of wise thoughts.

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  6. What a delight! I love the sheer joy that exudes from the frenetic pacing!

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  7. If only we would realise that we are part of complex band of living things in a fine balance of existence. Sdadly we are the one species likely on Earth likely to make a mess of everything because we think so much and are so greedy. We happily destroy the Earth thinking there is another one to hop on quite regardles of the millions of other inhabitants trying to keep living here.

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  8. Such a garden of flowered thoughts to ponder. Beautiful.

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  9. I like the way you have taken a well-known gospel song and developed it into a thoughtful poem, Susan.

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  10. "we are in an epidemic" that is true. But the act of swallowing the word gives me hope. Perhaps, at some point we'll realise that "soul is the entire breath needed to protect and extend life." Well expressed!

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  11. Love the way your poem builds to that final truth.

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  12. Interesting take on this, Susan. I was reading the comments and saw that it's a take on a gospel song? I wouldn't have known I didn't recognize it. No matter, your poem shows your lovely soul.

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  13. A thought provoking write Susan.
    Is our ‘soul’ a separate entity from our body or just our brain induced thought process mingled with our emotions? What use would a body be without a thought process/or soul if you like?
    The creation of this universe holds similar unanswerable questions: if God made the world, who made God? If God just WAS, why couldn’t the universe be the same?
    If the universe is the result of the Big Bang, where did the initial singularity stem from?
    I realise the above is all written in a ‘simple’ way Susan, but it is morning here and my brain takes a couple of hours to come to its senses – and that two hours isn’t up yet!
    Thank you for making me think.
    Anna :o]

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  14. I love the energy and tone of your poem.
    I feel it is a poem that depicts the harsh realities with positivity. I admire the way you did that

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