Poems

Volume 2: Summer 2012

A connecting principle
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible . . .

I don’t know if a set of 1983 lyrics from a rock band qualifies as spiritual poetry, but the title principle  -- Synchronicity  --  certainly applies to this, the second offering of Soul-Lit.The first, being just that, relied quite a bit less on the imperceptible, turning rather on the very visible links that Deb and I had with friends and fellow poets.  As with any new creative venture, we approached those we knew individually, as well as our various communities  --  artistic, academic and spiritual  --  letting them know of Soul-Lit’s existence and encouraging submissions.  The results (we hope you agree) were lovely, moving, even magical.

For this second offering, things took a bit different turn.  Word had spread, and poems, refreshingly unsolicited and gloriously accomplished, began filling our in-boxes.  And the Synchronicity began manifesting itself . . .

Cases in point: After one of my usual two-mile walks to the local produce stand/ice cream shop (at which I now have water, not Cranberry Harvest Ripple, thank you!), I was sitting on a bench, perusing the new issue of Poets and Writers.  A woman approached me, asking where she could obtain the magazine for her daughter, an aspiring writer.  In a few moments she’d motioned her over, a truly delightful, open-souled young lady, just about to graduate from a local high school and begin a new life – at Harvard no less!   The mother beamed about the positive attention her daughter’s poetry had attracted; the younger lady seemed to alternate between filial appreciation and wanting the earth to open up and swallow her.  Finally, I asked her if any of her work could be considered, even broadly, spiritual?  She replied yes, that she wrote sonnets that might fit that bill. (Sonnets, mind you! I was old enough to have sharpened Petrach’s quills  -- or sure felt that way now  --  and I’d never written a successful sonnet).  I told her about Soul-Lit, gave her my card, and encouraged her to submit some pieces.  You’ll find work from Lauren Claus, 18-year-old sonneteer, in this issue.

And that was by no means the end of the synchronicity.   Poems kept appearing in our email from various points of connectivity, near and distant: a friend and poet who’d been out of touch while he battled cancer, submissions from a fellow Torah-studier, who had no idea until the reply that I was a co-editor, an old friend of Rob’s, a fellow poetry class member of Deb’s   -- none of whom came to Soul-Lit by any invitation other than “chance” . . .

A star fall, a phone call,
It joins all . . .
It’s so deep, it’s so wide,
You’re inside . . .

Welcome to the second offering of Soul-Lit.  However you got here, it’s certainly yours.

 

Peace,

Wayne-Daniel