A Speed of Soul Poem

As we walk into a new year - and another decade.

When walking in the woods, 

Or on a path, 

or down the street,

in a store,

or just upstairs,

When you are intent on going

Where ever it is you are going, 

Stop.

Stand still.

Notice how the mind can chatter,

Like purple finches in the trees,

Endlessly clicking and warbling,

Rising and falling and rising again.

Notice all your plans and longings,

All the things you got, but didn’t want

All you wanted and didn’t get,

All the circular conversations aimed at

Changing.

What was already said or unsaid.

Notice all the losses you are carrying,

With as much grace as you can muster.

Notice the sky, 
the feel of the air on your

Skin,

The sounds or what hangs in the silence,

The hard knot in your throat.

Notice all these things and more,

Because there is always more.

Then let your heart open,

Even just a crack,

A dribble or a dam break,

It doesn’t matter

Because it is in that opening

You’ll find a clear space

The one you keep finding 

And losing

And finding again.

Remember to love it all,

All of it.

Hold hands and high five

With what’s easy and dear,

Ephemeral and brilliantly ordinary.

Wrap compassion like a blanket

The kind we place tenderly

Around other people’s shoulders

When the disaster is done and the worst is over.

Love it all,

Without looking for any way out,

Not condoning, just allowing

For it all to just live

Where it lives.

Love everything that broke your heart open

That changed you forever,

That made you softer

And helped you understand

What you could not have understood

Otherwise.

Love what you’ve endured.

Love what you are still enduring.

Love the purple finches and the sidewalk,

The view from the upstairs window,

The brambles and wild asters

And the click of the keyboard.

Love all of this

Small and fragile,

Big and beautiful

Life.

Then take the next step.

Carrie Newcomer

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