What Is My Soul?
by Ingrid Goff-Maidoff
What is my soul, but a wandering jewel -
dew on a spider’s web, snow on a pine?
What is my soul, seeker of knowledge,
knower of secrets, but the song of a bird,
a wave on the ocean, the infinite sky -
the magic of winter, the promise of spring…
Gypsy, vagabond, lover, beloved,
wise woman, energy, spirited wind…
Moonlight, sunlight, firelight, star,
shadows, darkness, deep, & dreams…
There is a way of being in the world -
the poets know this.
The mystics know this.
A way of rivers and moonlight and dust,
long winding roads and soft featherbeds….
Soul knows intimately nothingness and fullness;
dreams dressed in words,
the meanings of words and of Meaning itself…
Oh why do I feel my soul, with all of her wayfaring, is less lost than I who stays home?
Come with me, she says.
Send me a postcard, I say.
Come to me, I call.
Will you make me a cake? she asks…
Light a candle, she says, run me a bath…
Wait for the rain, and we’ll go walking in the woods, or arm in arm along the sea….
Take up your broom, she says, or,
brush your daughter’s golden hair.
Pour your love into anything, she says,
even the smallest chore,
and I will cease my wandering.
And I’ll return to be
the treasure in the lotus;
the jewel in your heart.
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Ingrid Goff-Maidoff lives a poetic and love-filled life with her husband and two daughters on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Her writing reflects a woman of cultivated awareness and sensuous spirit. Through Sarah’s Circle Publishing, Ingrid has quietly produced beautiful hand-sewn books of poetry and inspiration that have been delighting the public for over a dozen years.
Although she does give the occasional talk, poetry reading, and Universalist sermon, it is through her books, her website, the Artisan's Shows of Martha's Vineyard, her "Portions of Joy" e-newsletter, and now her on-line Journal, TENDING JOY, that Ingrid reaches the world.
Although she does give the occasional talk, poetry reading, and Universalist sermon, it is through her books, her website, the Artisan's Shows of Martha's Vineyard, her "Portions of Joy" e-newsletter, and now her on-line Journal, TENDING JOY, that Ingrid reaches the world.
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