I walk through the trees
observing light and shadow.
I feel the inspiration stir,
awaken,
I take a breath watching
a butterfly follow me.
I breathe words these days,
but they are silenced
by my questioning heart
asking does it matter?
Do I matter?
The saturated fear
that it does not
leave me empty like
a husk I see on the ground.
I question my sanity,
my worth,
I disrobe of the accolades
and strip bare
what matters?
It's all been said
and done
light and shadow dual,
struggle,
my soul had been cracked
open before.
I claw out of the darkness
to see the sun.
I kneel by the ocean
and question the smallness of it all
in this vast world.
I am small,
humbled,
a whisper,
I am nothing.
when i'm near the ocean i know that feel of smallness as well... the questions....i think it's good to let them in and find answers from the depth of our soul - concentrating on what matters - i find such times like compass times, adjusting the needle and then back into everyday life with new joy...
ReplyDeletei think it is good to know we are nothing...but not to belittle ourselves...not to strip away our accolades and start to believe things about ourselves that is not true...we are significant as well...
ReplyDeletei think it is good to know we are nothing...but not to belittle ourselves...not to strip away our accolades and start to believe things about ourselves that is not true...we are significant as well...
ReplyDeleteI am always small and humbled beside the ocean or when I look up at the vast sky ~ But I hope you don't feel insignificant and empty for long ~ We all have our fears and doubts, but our self worth, we must keep on building and believing it ~
ReplyDeleteSee the ocean so vast, can sure humble one indeed
ReplyDeleteIn some odd but marvelous way, as poets, we vacillate between humility & celebration; for as spiritual beings we are very much a part of the stars, whelped from the very seas that now humble us; so every poem seems to have a different heartbeat.
ReplyDeletePowerful poem for sure and I love how you lead the reader to follow the statement "I am nothing." with "I am everything." As we can never separate the worth others attach to us to our existence. Without existence there is nothing. Very deep poem you have spun here. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteAh...but we all matter, and we all are 'something' rather than 'nothing.'
ReplyDeleteNature often makes us feel we are small and as unimportant than a grain of sand. Yet this is sad when the feeling remains.
ReplyDeleteThese words have so much heart and vulnerability, Ayala. "Do I matter?" so poignantly embedded in the middle of your prose to allow the reader to explore the deep philosophical underpinnings in your words. Well done. One of my favorite poems by you.
ReplyDeleteAh...the age old question. You pose it well in this poem. Perhaps it is when we realize that we are so small and insignificant that we can truly start to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteI think you're something Ayala. Someone lovely, special, unique and big in spite of the smallness that appears. It's an illusion. A vast one.
ReplyDeletePensive and poignant write - always open to the light and wonder of the world - beautiful -
ReplyDeletefull of wisdom.. as we understand that we are nothing..beautiful lines Ayala,,smiles..
ReplyDeleteBut the whispers of your soul touch so many - more than you know. To write words of love and light in the midst of hatred and shadow, this is a blessing. It is one of the most important works we will ever do. ❤
ReplyDelete