the epiphany of a soul

The old story goes that when we die our soul goes
And ascends to the heavens above, but who really knows?
But I’m not concerned about where my soul will go
Because I’m still trying to find out if I even have one of those
What is my soul? My spirit, essence, energy, aura or glow?
Where is my soul when I’m alive?… I really don’t know

Because supposedly it’s there before we die
Like a fire it’s said that our souls burn inside
It’s seen in our hearts and it’s seen in our eyes
But is it really there or am I just being blind?
Was it there when love turned from butterflies to “compromise”?
Was it there when I was young and life was always a surprise?
Was is there the first time I said I loved
And was it there the first time I told lies?
Was it there when I was a baby and my mother tended to my cries?
Because I’m dying now to find out where my soul truly resides

Because how can I predict a destiny for something that desires salvation
When I can’t even understand its realness or formation?
Was my soul there when I was a fetus and went underwent neuralization?
Or was it there at day 21, when my heart started beating with regulation?
Is it there when my ecto-, endo-, and mesoderm start their primitive migration?
Or is it there before, when my synctiotrophoblast invaded during implantation?
Was my soul there when I was a ball of cells undergoing gastrulation?
Or was my soul there at the first division; the very start of differentiation
Because if you believe a soul is placed there upon conception’s congregation  
Then that’s to say you believe a soul is the product of an acrosome’s penetration
The culmination of a spermatocyte causing the zona pellucida’s depolarization
So is there a soul in a sex cell that’s haploid before our chromosomes’combination?
Because even the novel sequences of the DNA that make us have known configurations
Ribose sugars, a nucleic acid chained helix  and some phosphorylation
And those are each composed of known atoms in different orientations
Is our soul there? In the empty spaces between our atoms’ nucleus and orbital rotations?
If our soul is energy then must it not have mass that takes up some space in physical manifestation?
Or is it aura, a light of a massless glow that emits from within us like radiation?

Or is our soul really just the fact that we are aware and have come to a higher realization?
A figment of our imagination designed uniquely for the thought of self preservation

But why then, when we are angry our minds sense so much frustration?
And when we are happy it’s our whole body that feels elation
In sadness our entire essence is stuck in an act of desperation
And in love it is our entire being that craves more of that sensation

See, we don’t know what most of the universe is comprised of, but we still all see the beauty of its creation
That’s why even though we may never find the soul inside us; I still hope your soul is my soul’s destination

Author's Note

a modern day philosophical piece about an age old discussion.... where and what is a soul? sorry for the overkill of embryology in this one, but hey if you want to understand it, you can always google it

much love
shoaib

Reviews

[lostboy]

your soul was there before you were. waiting.

[light and ashes]

At first I thought you were questioning if a souls exist. But then I realized that the point was to question what a soul is. Good job of rasing questions. It took me a minute to really get what you meant by this poem. I believe that we become a soul when we are in the womb. But very good work!

[lisameryl]

shoaib,

Powerful, beautiful and thoughtprovoking verse and subject. Believe me, I'm familiar with many of your writings, so there is no overkill of embryology here.

As for "souls", many will disagree with me but I've always believed that our souls travel through time waiting and wanting to reunite with our loved ones. (I also know I'm an old soul and have lived before on the planet in another time and place)

It's great being here and seeing a familiar face. Is there anyone else here I would know? I look forward to reading more of your work.

Lisa =)

[ब्र&#..]

this was a very deeply written piece of literature, i loved every minute of it
alltid
-Meja Malina

[Celeste21]

Wow, this poem is brimming with new thoughts and perspectives. It overflows. I hope a soul is all of these things you address.

[SpokenWord]

I think very deeply comes to mind because this brings a good point of view and asks questions beyond the norm that people will ask if seeking their own soul. I have to say first that it is impressive that you used complete sentences in this poem and made it flow effortlessly.

Personally I never really thought about at which point my soul entered this body. To me I trace it back to my first childhood memory as everything before that really doesn't exist since I can't recall a single thread of it before the age of 3. Considering the amount of information we learn in the first two years of life I find it astounding that I can't recall any of it or ever learning it.

I could never answer the questions but I can say that I chose to believe that people have souls as far as their destination I will leave that up the religiously inclined to debate over time.

A surprise read, as I like poetry that makes me think long after I have read it. Superbly written.