No matter how I turn
the magnificent light follows.
Background to my sadness.
No matter how I lift my heart
my shadow creeps in wait behind.
Background to my joy.
No matter how fast I run
a stillness without thought is where I end.
No matter how long I sit
there's a river of motion I must rejoin.
And when I can't hold my head up
it always falls in the lap of one
who has just opened.
When I finally free myself of burden
there's always someone's heavy head
landing in my arms.
The reasons of the heart
are leaves in wind.
Stand up tall and everything
will nest in you.
We all lose and we all gain.
Dark crowds the light.
Light fills the pain.
It's a conversation with no end,
a dance with no steps,
a song with no words,
a reason too big for any mind.
No matter how I turn
the magnificence follows.
A Question to Walk With: Describe a time when you felt liberated and then ran into someone in need. How did you feel? What did you do?
Last month, Sounds True published a major collection of my poetry, The Way Under the Way, which contains three separate books of poetry, gathering 217 poems retrieved and shaped over the past twenty years. These poems span my life's journey and they center on the place of true meeting that is always near, where we chance to discover our shared humanity and common thread of Spirit. The above poem is from the book.
For more poetry for the soul, click here.
For more by Mark Nepo, click here.