Tempestuous,

clawing at the edges,

uncontainable.

Busting scripts open,

peering inside, 

with honest curiosity.

Mind be still,

but it never will.

Cascading, crashing,

pelting, screeching,

undulating, alone.

Until it finally floats back into line...

for a little while.

Sedentary, speechless

Voiceless

Calm, vacant

Tidy, agreeable

Understandable, acceptable

Likable, tame.

Restless.

But the storm is gracious to return- 

A lifeline in the sea of ambivalence,

A hand reaching down, 

to wake up the soul, 

stuck inside the shell.

Pulling it to the outskirts,

where adventure awaits,

where conscious thought is possible.

Out There. 

Beyond the blinds

of presumptuous certainty,

of manicured platitudes 

and the beastly illusion of having it all figured out, safe.

There,

in the currents

outside the walls,

that beautiful tempest

of hungry questions 

and endless curiosity

awaits.

There,

in those dark, sweet pools of wonder, 

Free from institutions,

Free from those insulated islands.

There outside,

a soul may find itself waiting on itself

to return again.

To think differently again.

To ponder

To weigh

To create

To imagine

That soul cries:

Here I’m alive,

Here I’m awake,

Here I attend,

Here I lay down the burdens of their expectations,

If just for a moment.

They say color in the lines. 

Think on this side of the fence. 

Question it this way. 

Say it that way.

Don’t ask too much.

Do it like this. 

Don’t be too much to handle.

Be agreeable. 

But a soul can hold deep wells of longing inside.

A soul can crave-

behind its tidy garments

and shiny labels-

to be seen.

That soul can crave crashing:

through walls

through boxes

through pleasantries.

That soul can crave to claw again.

It can long to be swept up,

grasping for those wide open spaces,

grasping for that storm,

that maker of mindfulness.

Out There.

Where there’s room to breathe 

and think 

and ask 

and be fiercely transparent. 

That soul is welcome out there,

To dwell, to grow, to center,

To be.

That soul can find joy 

out there in that place where there are more good questions than automated answers.

There a soul can be, once again, swept up in exhilaration.

If only

more of those souls 

could shed fear

and be seen and known.

Together.

In here.