"This is My Heart"

The poem I read today is by Joy Harjo, and bears the same title as this blog.  While reading her poem, I could hear it like a song. I immediately knew I had to write my own version. The first and last lines are taken from her. These words came so quickly, I could barely get them on the page fast enough. Therefore, I've done very little editing. Haven't had that happen in quite some time.

 

This is My Heart

This is my heart.  It is a good heart.

It follows the love of prayer

and impermanence daily. It beats

for people around the world, 

not stigmatizing our differences.

It is heart in love with nature and

life and all God has given.

This is my head full of metaphors

and rhymes. One holding the

tensions of opposites and letting

them be. One that is open to the

artistry of others, whether films

or sonnets or colorful collages

or books written in scroll.

My head whirs with memory and

connections, always busy, always bright.

This is my soul, open to the journey

that is music and teaching and

the pen on the page. This is a happy

soul that has never doubted its

existence. This is the soul connected

to the people I know, one that

grounded me through tough times,

rejoiced in good times, kept a

steady hand on spirit even if I didn't know it.

This is my song I've come to sing quite

loudly. It is a hard-won song, a

song with minor chords to add

depth and strength, a song that

may slant its rhymes but is always,

always going in the right direction.

A song of grace and peace and unfragmented

awareness of the beauty and loss

all around us, always and forever after

I am freed from the bonds of this world.

It is a good thing, says my soul.