Instructions for Having a Soul
Take it out in the rain sometimes.
It has vast, invisible wings that
gather dirt and need rinsing
When it tries to kill you that is
because you've forgotten to let it
look into someone's eyes
for longer than a minute.
It needs that the way a bee needs
nectar in the early morning dew.
Every so often, take it on a journey.
Let it read long, hard books
and let it stare into the depths
of the sea.
Yes, you can give it chips and
whiskey but from time to time
let it kneel in a place that is holy
like the simple cathedral of
the willows.
All it wants is to live,
to keep becoming.
Nourish it, and it puts down roots,
it opens.
But starve it, and the mind,
the flesh is empty;
the world breaks down;
symphonies go unwritten;
the rockets fall;
the children die in flames.
Listen. It is not too late to wake it.
Say the names of the wild,
the forgotten things: bluebird,
red wolf, robin; violet, child, clover.
You cannot save the world but
you can open the window for
the trapped wren in the cellar.
Read a book to a blind man,
to your father.
Tell a child you do believe her anger.
Make your life the first life
that you save.
(Joseph Fasano)
