The Library of the Body

The library of the body is a revelation.

*

Today I pull out the book of grief

and find one hundred chapters.

There is the chapter on letting go~

where brilliant leaves,

tumble down the branches

of the page, veins lined in gold.

*

The book of rage comes next.

Rage at the song we could not sing.

Rage at the father who broke our spirit.

Rage at the lover who left us on our knees.

Rage at the god who would not lift us easily

above the rough waters of this world.

*

This book laughs—throaty and guttural—

and then begins to weep. For such losses

are not to simply be cast off and forgotten.

Here you light a candle as you read

and burn each page as you go on.

*

Then there is the book of joy.

This book has no words.

This book simply pours

moonlight across your skin.

This book sprouts roses

when you are not looking.

 

And when you have finished every volume,

the whole of the library unfolds itself

into a trembling forest, and each book

becomes a gleaming apple on the tree of life

that whispers—eat, taste, nourish.

Reflections:

~What stories and images live in your book of grief? Your book of rage? Your book of joy?

~When you consider the library of your body in its wholeness—what wants to be remembered, seen and honored?

©Laura Weaver
excerpted from LUMINOUS: Poetry & Inquiry for the Soul’s Journey
**to learn more about my work or purchase the book, you can go to my website luminouspoetry.com or lauraweaver.org

AMAZON LINK:

https://www.amazon.com/Luminous-Poems-Inquiry-Souls-Journey/dp/0692146695

–or you can find a copy locally at Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, CO

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