It Was Your Voice — Nick LeForce

It was your voice
the whispered voice in the shadows
I had learned to ignore
because I believed
a bird with broken wing
is meant to die
and does not deserve
such fierce tenderness.

After I shared one of my poems in a class, a student approached and told me that my poetry reminded her of the Poetry of David Whyte. When I later looked him up, I realized that this was a very high compliment. I wrote this poem, dedicated to David Whyte, when I first saw him live on January 14, 2012 during a weekend seminar at Asilomar, California, titled: “How to Create a Beautiful Mind.”

It was your voice coming
from the witness stand
speaking in my defense
while I hid in the shadows
refusing to walk
on the grounds
of my own life.

It was your voice
urging me to stop hiding
behind my plea of “not guilty”
and challenging me to stand
before the gathered assembly
and declare, “I am guilty as charged.”

I am guilty of using my wounds
to excuse living the flightless life;

and it is your voice whispering
that life asks of you
nothing less than everything
knowing you can never give it

it asks you to proffer
your broken heart
over and over again
knowing it has yet
to be broken open enough

for you to walk through the crack
into the unspeakable abyss
and irrevocable beauty
of who you may become.

One of the greatest blessing in life is to find someone who inspires you to go beyond where you have been and to step into a greater presence in life. This could be a real person; it could be someone you know personally or someone you don't know; it could be a person from history or fiction; or an imagined being; or a spiritual presence. Of course, we many find our role models and inspirations come from different people and places at different times in our lives.

Who whispers to your soul?
Who inspires you to step into a greater presence in life?

Please share your thoughts and comments below