The Mindful Minute- Day 22 Of 30: Mindful Poetry

Hello and welcome to day 22 of the Mindful Minute.

This is Laura,

And today's practice is one with mindful poetry.

Any piece of writing or poem can really show us the power of words.

We can have different feelings,

Thoughts,

Think of different experiences,

And words can connect us.

I invite you to listen to this poem at least twice,

Perhaps three times,

And see what it brings up for you.

See if it changes as you listen to it more than once.

So go ahead and find a comfortable seat,

Allow your eyes to close if that feels safe,

And I'd like to read for you All the True Vows by David White.

All the true vows are secret vows.

The ones we speak out loud are the ones we break.

There is only one life you can call your own,

And a thousand others you can call by any name you want.

Hold to the truth you make every day with your own body.

Don't turn your face away.

Hold to your own truth at the center of the image you were born with.

Those who do not understand their destiny will never understand the friends they have made,

Nor the work they have chosen,

Nor the one life that waits beyond all the others.

By the lake in the wood,

In the shadows,

You can whisper that truth to the quiet reflection you see in the water.

Whatever you hear from the water,

Remember,

It wants you to carry the sound of its truth on your lips.

Remember,

In this place no one can hear you,

And out of the silence you can make a promise it will kill you to break.

That way you'll find what is real and what is not.

I know what I am saying.

Time almost forsook me,

And I looked again.

Seeing my reflection,

I broke a promise and spoke for the first time after all these years in my own voice,

Before it was too late to turn my face again.