We expand in order to celebrate and descend in order to mature.

That is what this poem is all about. And it was inspired by the words of David Whyte, who I am beginning to grow a slight obsession with. For those of you who don’t know David Whyte, he is a poet of the highest caliber, who is able to whisper into the places you are unaware of.

He basically whispers into your soul, but he does so with plain language that is not overly complex or rhythmical. It is just right. Reading his words, you get the sense that reading poetry is a matter of life or death. And everyone can read it. It’s accessible, slow, and true to the experience of Being. It seeps into the pores without you knowing, and before you know it, the soul is drunk on its own language.

That is what I wanted this poem to do. And that is what I want my poetry to do.

I used certain images like water, moon, and sun to depict certain stages of soul-growth (If you have been reading my recent poems, you will know that I am hooked on the theme of soul and have been writing in order to reflect it).

The sun, in this poem, is the expansion, the ascent, and the celebration of spirit. The moon is the symbol for groundedness, descending, and cocooning (“where the hiding grows to make you drunk.”) The light symbolizes all-pervasiveness. The moon symbolizes maturity. But they work hand-in-hand and reward each other. The moon can learn from the sun and vice-versa.

At the beginning of the poem, there is an image of you, the reader, looking into the water and asking for a blessing. What happens from then on is a conversation with the universal truth, revealing certain aspects of yourself, and learning from each aspect, until it realizes that there is only one thing, roaming about in different shades, “falling in love with its own remembrance.”

Here is the poem, short and sweet:

Come down to the water, where your reflection is clear,

and ask for a blessing to not go back after seeing too

far into the eyes of the God looking through you.

That is the only way.

When approached by the sun in that spot,

do not apologize for your depth & will to

descend into some dimmer, more grounded

place,

where the hiding grows to make you drunk.

The light always rewards maturity.

And when gathered

by the moon, do not hide your true & astonishing image

in an unreachable corner, for it wants

to learn from you &

reach out toward the same expanse

as you

when dancing without the thought

of others.

There are none, after all.

We are all one soul—and

The soul is the edge,

Falling

in love

with its own 

Remembrance.