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?
a black rook clattered loudly through the folds of my mind
as the creeping cloudwarmh made the grass glow amber
The late comedian, philosopher, prophet, Bill Hicks, had a wonderful line about…well, life.
“It’s just a ride.”
Thinking about it now, I can see how it might not be as impacting or profound if you’re unfamiliar with his work. I mean to say, in the context of his work, it’s not “nothing matters,” it’s more, “live without fear.”
Jeez, that sure is jumbled, hope it makes sense!
I love Bill Hicks. Here’s the quote in context–it was the way he closed his It’s Just A Ride set:
…
It’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, a choice right now: between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off; the eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we could do to change the world right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of the world, which it would, many times over, not one human being would be excluded, and then we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever. Peace.
Okay,you guys are going to make me seek out Bill Hicks. I keep seeing his name and yet I am now going to confess to being a Bill Hicks Ignoramus. I know nothing about him, believe it or not, except that what you have quoted knocks me out. I gather he is or was a stand-up?
The official Bill Hicks website.
I had a long week and slept in late this morning. So I just saw this. Thanks for the link. I visited it and once again feel “late to the party.” He is someone I would really have loved alot. But thanks to the internet, we can still hear his work.
I discovered Hicks only recently, myself. We’re late to the party together!
As Jennifer links, yes, he was a standup comedian. He died from pancreatic cancer back in the early 90s, when he was only in his early 30s and sort-of a rising star. That always makes me a little melancholy when I watch his bits about how he’ll never quit smoking. It’s interesting, though, how much of the more political parts of his act are still relevant today, especially considering how much he disliked the Bush family and did jokes about Senior as pres and the first war on Iraq.
Anyway, like I posted to pastordan some time ago, this closer is representative of Bill’s ethics but not really a fair representation of his act. This is beautiful, but it’s preceded by plenty of lewd references to sex, much blue language, repeated exultations of hallucinogen use, and a 10-minute bit about how advertising executives are “suckers of Satan’s cock.”
I think the man was hilarious, but I’m not offended by that sort of thing. Rent a DVD at your own risk and don’t say I didn’t warn you. 🙂
The Blues
by Billy Collins
Much of what is said here
must be said twice
a reminder that no one
takes an immediate interest in the pain of others.
Nobody will listen, it would seem,
if you simply admit
your baby left you early this morning
she didn’t even stop to say good-bye.
But if you sing it again
with the help of the band
which will now lift you to a higher,
more ardent and beseeching key,
people will not only listen;
they will shift to the sympathetic
edges of their chairs,
moved to such acute anticipation
by that chord and the delay that follows,
they will not be able to sleep
unless you release with one finger
a scream from the throat of your guitar
and turn your head back to the microphone
to let them know
you’re a hard-hearted man
but that woman’s sure going to make you cry.
wow, I love that!
human hearts, human spirits
seeking
finding
connecting
blending
expanding
even for one eyewink
and everything is changed
forever
Is that your very own Scribe? All I can say is WOW – thats what is so wonderful about poetry…you can say so much with so few words.