Life tries to lure us into the open, the way sunlight opens a flower after a storm. This poem explores the life-force that calls to us.
Nectar
Like the nose of a bee, the heart
rubs its face in trouble and joy. So
bring all you've touched to bear on
this day, to pollinate what matters.
Ask everything you think might help
to lure your best self into the open. Ask
every pain that has forced you out of
hiding to cough up the gift you carry
in your heart. Until you realize that
the life you want waits inside you,
the way a flower waits inside a seed.
This is a holy space you enter in which
anything can happen. It can all change
in a day. Like today. And there are
wonderful teachers ready to help you,
to lead you, to lift you. Look to the web
of silk you just brushed from your face.
Look to the stone in your shoe that
made you trip into the web. Look to
the small cloud dispersing now be-
fore your tired eyes. Look to the
cramp in your beliefs that makes
it impossible to go on as if
nothing has changed.
A Question to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, describe something you thought was an obstacle, something you thought was in the way and how it turned out to be the next step in your path.
For more poetry for the soul, click here.
For more by Mark Nepo, click here.