Read the poem
Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you
Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…
Use the selection of prompts below the poem
Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…
Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes
Turas d’Anam
Often times
the step backward
lets the soul catch up.
So that all our happy
hindsights harmonize
and wisdom builds.
Share your luck.
Be miserly only
with misfortune.
In each seismic
shudder we learn
to trust the ground
again, humble again,
knowingly broken,
unrepentantly wounded,
proud to bare pain.
Laying claim to
the Joy factory
of your body.
No more tariffs, or sanctions.
Wage cuts and glass ceilings.
Conventions, expenses paid, nor
lanyards or company position.
Often times,
this way you can live
in ways other simply
will not, develop sides
of you others simply
would not.
So feel the rhythm
beyond the beat.
Begin with a break,
and let your soul
catch up.
Please join in for Round 7 of Writing From The Inside Out by attending the October 2020 read-around sessions on Friday afternoons (it’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional). If you have not registered, click the button below; and if you have registered, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:
Next Read Around is October 30, 2020 at 4:00 PM PST
My Thoughts
I met Michael (pronounced me-heal) O’Suilleabhain as “Moley” performing Celtic music and rock ‘n’ roll with his brother Owen, at David Whyte’s poetry reading event at Asilomar in 2014. The pair were also a part of two walking tours that I took with David, one in Italy and the other in Ireland. Michael is an extremely talented musician and vocalist with exceptional beatbox skills and a world class storyteller. So, it is no surprise when I learned that he was taking up poetry, which I believe is now the identity he is embracing even beyond that of musician. He just released his first book of poetry, Early Music, the only title besides David Whyte’s own work published by David’s publishing company, Many Rivers Press (https://www.davidwhyte.com/#home).
This week’s poem is a nice follow up to last week’s prompt based on Pat Schneider’s poem, Instructions for the Journey, because Turas d’Anam is Gaelic for Soul Journey. It is the title of the tours of Ireland offered by Michael and Owen, along with their mother Noirin Ni Riain. I have yet to make it on one of these tours, but it is on my bucket list. Noirin is arguably the most famous Celtic traditional singer in Ireland.
If there is a pace to the soul, it is likely slower than the lightning speed of modern life. Even in our forced retreat from the pandemic, many of us still run through our days led on a leash by the electronic world. What I like about Michael’s poem is the idea that when we step back, we can give the soul a chance to catch up: we can return to some simple truths; we can re-embody ourselves; and we can disconnect from the taxing troubles of the world. And when we do, we can choose to live in ways others simply will not and develop sides of ourselves that others simply would not. I often get caught up in the rush and trouble of the world, which a friend recently described as the rocking chair life: a lot of energy spent going back and forth and getting nowhere. So, why not take a break, let the soul catch up, and discover what might start, or what you truly want to begin, from there?
To learn more about Michael O’Suilleabhain, go to: Turasdanam or to Deepen The Narrative
Week 29 Prompt Menu
What does it mean to step back so that the soul can catch up? How is it different from taking a break or even a retreat?What practices do you do to let your soul catch up with you?
Write a poem that harmonizes happy hindsights and describes the wisdom that builds from them.
Michael offers some simple guiding truths in life (share your luck; be miserly only with good fortune). What simple truths to live by would you offer?
Describe a time when an event caused a seismic shudder that unsettled you. How did you learn to trust the ground again? Or write a poem from the prompt: After the quake, I learned to trust… (or I learned to trust the ground again by…)
Children are often proud to bare their wounds, almost as if it is a badge of honor. Describe an experience that, at the time, broke you or wounded you deeply, but that you are now “proud” to bare (because it taught you something or shows your resilience, etc.)
Michael describes the body as a joy factory to which he lays claim. Write a poem or an ode to the body. To what aspect of your physicality (joyful or otherwise) do you lay claim?
The 4th stanza refers to aspects of life to which we may need to say “no” for the soul to catch up (no more tariffs or sanctions, etc.) What do you need to say “no” to for your soul to catch up with you?
What ways are you willing to live (or imagine you could live) that are unique to you or that others simply will not? What sides of yourself are you developing?
Halloween is this Saturday, which is likely derived from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was considered a special time when the border between the spirit world and this world opened could be crossed. So, feel free to step back and write a halloween poem!
Write from whatever else in the poem inspires you or from elsewhere in your life.