No, this is not another recipe diary. I’m wondering what people do to feed their soul these days.
I was raised in a fundamentalist christian community and abandoned that years ago. I am very aware of my need for a meaningful spirituality and am constantly looking for ways to address that. I envy those who find a religious community that actually feeds their soul. But its not for me.
Anyone reading this has probably found some of that need met by visiting this blog. I know that is true for me. I could write about lots of other things that feed my soul, but I wanted to focus on poetry for now.
A few years ago I first heard David Whyte in a video presentation and then bought some books of his poetry. He has been a profound influence in my life since then.
Here is his take on the power of poetry:
The Lightest Touch
Good poetry begins with
the lightest touch,
a breeze arriving from nowhere,
a whispered healing arrival,
a word in your ear,
a settling into things,
then like a hand in the dark
it arrests the whole body,
steeling you for revelation.
In the silence that follows
a great line
you can feel Lazarus
deep inside
even the laziest, most deathly afraid
part of you,
lift up his hands and walk toward the light.
And here is a poem that seems to have been written especially for today:
Imagine My Surprise
Imagine my surprise,
sitting a full hour
in silent and irremediable
fear of the world.
to find the body
forgetting
its own fear the instant
it opened and placed
those unassuming hands
on life’s enduring pain,
and the world for one
moment
closed its terrifying eyes
in gratitude.
Saying,
“This is my body, I am found.”
So, do you have any soul food available to share with us?
