Speaking of Miracles (Day 40)
so that miracles result,
while you, for your part,
have yet to rupture your bad habits?
—Ibn Ata Allah, Sufi mystic
in the subtle droop of skin and will,
like the life stuffing were slowly
being spooned out of me
My mind, too, is being emptied
of needless concerns
(such as, who's in charge)
traveling lighter, demanding less
One day, finally, I'll slip out this
loosening body bag—
simply sling it over the shoulder
of my sturdy spirit
The Divine, like poetry, only answers
when there's nowhere else to turn to.
©Yahia Lababidi
Images: Agostino Arrivabene
This is my entry for Day 40 of @d-pend's The 100 Day Poetry Challenge. If you're looking to develop your skills (as a writer or Steemian) and discover a sense of community, please, consider joining Steemit School on Discord
There is no doubt at all that when you write poetry none dare to catch your level but when you chose the theme of spirituality i do believe you are the most finest poet Brother Yahia <3
Thank you so much for this wonderful poem, superb lines ...
Thank you, for understanding those closing lines, as the Sufis say: He who tastes, knows. Such things are experiential and hardly withstand translation...
We're all groping in the dark, seeking the Light.
_/|\_You are always ready to share the light of knowledge with us, yes you an inspiration for me <3
Brilliant imagery Yahia.
So bittersweet, this feeling of physical and psychological retreat that comes with age. Becoming hardened if we're not too careful, hopefully refined instead - the second stanza perfectly captures that sense of getting to know oneself as the years go by.
Thank you, for your sensitivity, @lazarus-wist. Yes, hardening, or becoming bitter, might be the only failure in life... Success I define, to myself, as deepening our appetite while refining our hunger.
Every stage of life brings with it gifts, if we gracefully surrender those of the past stages.
Really grateful to hear you thought poem did some justice to these intangible realities.
_/|\_Fantastic! This whole poem is amazing!
Bless you, @violetmed. It's a privilege to lay one's heart bare, and be heard with such enthusiasm.
_/|\_My mind, too, is being emptied
of needless concerns
(such as, who's in charge)
traveling lighter, demanding less
I love this part. One of the keys to happiness, in my opinion.
I agree with you, and think it's part of growing up, this letting go (even if it's not something we always do as we grow older :)
I love it, man. This is such a painfully accurate portrayal of spirituality v.s. the temporal and the work it takes to separate the two or, well, work closer towards one from within the other.
And your words are always precise and well-thought.
Very grateful to be heard on such intimate matters, dear Caleb. This is the invisible work but, of course, it informs everything we do. Wishing you what I wish for myself, brother: breakthroughs, transformation, peace.
_/|\_Wow...
You are an artist. Your words are the paint that brings color to the canvas of our minds...
What a poetic thing to say, thank you. Aging, growing and transforming are slow and mysterious processes for which there are hardly words... but one tries...
If I am not mistaken. ibn Ata Allah a Sufi cleric from the land of egypt. he is also the author of Al-hikam. in my area is very popular with the al-hikam
Yes, you are not mistaken. He is the esteemed, Egyptian author of al-Hikam (Book of Wisdom), and was a jurist, spiritual master and aphorist (born 658 AH / 1259 CE).
I can relate , especially the traveling lighter and demanding less. Some of the things that use to motivate no longer do .
That's part of growing up, I suppose. Caring more for less things. Thanks, for letting me know it resonates.
What our spirits feel, we express it in different ways such as words and poems. However, words are not enough.
Yes, we use what we have:
Thought is a bird of space that, in a cage of words, can spread its wings—but, cannot fly.
—Gibran
That is beautifully ironic and sad at the same time.
Beautiful