SteemitPoetryContest #10 / Gestation, Original Poem
Gestation
This long disorientation - I better understand, now
as my soul is rewritten, I have been learning, again
how to walk and breathe
-under water and on air.
Best not to say much or think you know
anything... preferable to keep very still
lest you might spoil it all
-when you are being reborn.
Hardly time for grand pronouncements:
lie low, feed and listen for clues
only grow, inwardly, in knowing
before declaring it to the world.
© Yahia Lababidi
(Images: Pixabay)
I really like the line '...as my soul is rewritten'. It's a nice thought, the soul not as this static inborn thing, but something that's always changing and can be thrown away and created a new. I wish you good luck with your poetry!
Yes, mind, body and soul are constantly regenerating, and long to grow, change and evolve... Thank you, for reading with an open heart and for your kind wishes, @ul1yck1t Wishing you much poetry, on the page & off
"as my soul is rewritten" triggers in me a feeling of the coding of DNA... the soul still being the soul but expressing differently in life, and then this extends to the "switching on and off" of genes... the subject matter evokes such primal human states, the life work of fetuses and infants, where on some level so much is already known, and then so much is learned so quickly, each aspect an extension of the last, like the growth patterns of young plants or any living organism really. I find myself standing both inside of and outside of the experience, having it happening and also, from the perspective of an adult now, watching it happen.
I like the way the second stanza, and the first half of the last, emphasize the passive work being done, the basic growth and unfolding, and then, in the last two lines: the forward momentum vectoring the infant toward adult hood: "only grow, inwardly, in knowing/before declaring it to the world".
Interpretation is an art, and I read yours with much interest. The author, of course, is not always the authority on their work. But, for what it's worth, to me this poem is about spiritual development or even a type of evolution - dying to one phase of your life, and allowing yourself to be reborn into another.
Here's an echo from Lao Tzu : 'Do you have the patience to wait/ Till your mud settles and the water is clear?/ Can you remain unmoving/ Till the right action arises by itself?'
Thanks, for your close reading and lending the poem your imagination.
Ah, that was actually my second interpretation. The two are so closely linked... the confusion of transition, falling apart in order to be reborn. Whether the rebirth is literal or figurative, it's a major step, a metamorphosis.
At one time in my life I was a Shiatsu practitioner. In studying Eastern medicine, we were taught that our modern day culture, esp. in the west, is overly dependent on the yang energy, on taking action, at the expense of the yin. Because of this, we were told, "nearly every client you see will be deficient in yin meridian systems and overactive (or "collapsed", meaning worn out from overuse) in yang ones".
Your poem reminds me of this. That rest, patience, and inner work are necessary elements of change.
I appreciate not only the poem, but the discussion it provokes.
Thank you, for hearing me, in-quietly 🙏🏼
Lovely writing. Lovely sentiments. Thank You!
Thank you, @dolama, for your attention. I'm glad it spoke to you.
"Hardly time for grand pronouncements"
LOVE THAT.
Check out my latest post on not having to hurry with life
You noticed :) Thanks!
"as my soul is rewritten, I have been learning, again" it started the goosebumps.
https://steemit.com/writing/@theloneword/this-is-for-the-people-out-there-truth-be-told-who-s-not-insecure
Thanks, for reading & sharing your work. I wish you courage.
Thanks! Just followed you! :)
Great, I hope my words keep you good company (and maybe even inspire you).
You have a nice entry there about the theme!! Here’s mine also.. I need more poets who can give some critics to my works thanks! :) https://steemit.com/poetry/@levinvillas/steemitpoetrycontest-10-a-chance-for-growth