Soul Dancer

death and grim reaper inspired

Death arrived unannounced

I offered him my soul

 

I wandered

throughout the land

in a field of wildflowers

I heard a whisper

“Your soul will be scattered like pollen”

a rusty red butterfly appeared singing praises

to the bringer of souls

the source of all flowers

 

I followed the blazing Queen

to a blossom emanating hues of a glorious sunset

inside the fiery depths I recognized myself

I ran from flower to flower

in each open bloom

I found fragments of my surrendered soul

 

Intoxicated by beauty

I abandoned these lost bits of soul

mine no longer

I embraced everything

 

That which I call my self

seemed to expand and grow

reaching beyond the customary boundaries of the flesh

the border separating me from nature dissolved

I consist of everything the world consists of

 

My departed soul had revealed itself

bits of my soul danced in the form of butterflies

on the wings of a Gulf Fritillary a dream was born

my whole being responded with joy

my mood was expressed as a bright blue sky

 

I looked to the heavens

gazed into myself

saw my soul everywhere

a spellbound dreamer awakens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gulf Fritillary butterfly photo from my garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen butterfly photo from my garden.

 

Reviews

[Texas]

Really nice. The impression I get is returning to nature after death. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I like how if you read deeply, you find meaning behind the words. And if you just read it (no deep thoughts), you can still enjoy the pictures it paints. Great job.

[AbbeyLyn]

I really love your verb choice in this poem; they express so much more than just simple verbs; I am a young writer, and often have trouble with using simple verbs, and I will use this as an example of what my writing could be if I use the right words. Thank you!

[Lydia Blackwell]

this is very spiritual. It is more like a story than a poem. It gave me a strange idea which I will impart in simplest form- it made me wonder if we are all born soulless and must find our soul before we die and that is the journey of life...? hmmmm... I don't know. This made me thing and I like to ponder new possibilities, so thank you!

[Tracie Skarbo]

oh this is wonderful! An excellent depiction of someone recognizing the formless and connecting with everything around them. Excellent vocabulary throughout...

[Bubo]

This is amazing..........the journey of a soul, surrounded by nature and beauty..........I thought you wrote this with tenderness and a real feeling as if you were on this journey of discovery.

[Emily B]

Death came calling once or twice
and walked on by
He wasn't ready for me yet
I have light to shine
or aches to soothe
or something

[Rory CJ Frankson]

Ah... Soul Dancer, wait and hold the moment. As it is released and all that seek this dying to self. Feel the presence of spirit, look to the wonder of revolving stars. Nurtured, they stand and wave in the winds of time... Breathless.

I gather in the dust and become, seeds for the soil... waiting, ever waiting.
to quote: Reaching beyond the customary boundaries of the flesh
Arrival. Then read on, astonished... always.
At this spellbound dreamers, awakening.
They arrive like Moths... to the Flame.

[A.A.Romanczuk]

how beautifully spiritual...oh so beautiful...I bow before You, prostrate myself before Your wisdom...your lovely intuition...this is ..something...rare to behold...this poem intoxicates me with its enveloping tendrils of Your growth as a human being...Of Your journey of finding Yourself in the whole...

[Pax Analog]

Ah, cool. "Look at me -- I'm 'Shattered'" -- but now I'm in EVERYTHING! ;-)

And yes the mood of poem is shamanic, as a song, more J Morrison recitation than Stones.

"My departed soul had revealed itself/Bits of my soul danced in the form of butterflies/On the wings of a Gulf Fritillary a dream was born/My whole being responded with joy/My mood was expressed as a bright blue sky"

Classic epiphany.

[R J Askew]

This puts me in mind of Jim Morrison, I can imagine him singing this. In fact I can hear him singing this!

[Coyote Poetry]

I like this story. I do believe in the end. We become part of the earth again. Re-join nature in many ways. I like the ending. I loved these lines.
"My departed soul had revealed itself
Bits of my soul danced in the form of butterflies
On the wings of a Gulf Fritillary a dream was born"
A beautiful poem and dream.
Coyote