Renewal

I ditto what Amy says.

thanks for commenting, friends. this has started out on an interesting path as i am not a christian and do not look to a higher power. i believe in the infinite good that is love and compassion, but often doubt that there is enough of it in humankind. i believe that the ability to start over is inherent in everyone and everything, but that it is a choice. and some of us are too afraid, wounded, etc. to choose it.

ouch - you guys are making me think too much...

Very interesting. The beginning had me thinking this would be a Love Poem.

Even in a spiritual renewal, the past is not forgotten, it is only set aside for a new path, a new goal, or a new type of life. The soul always remembers.

I love the way the time concept of the human flesh and bone in build into the poem, and ut give you an higher sense of understanding and purpose. Love the final lines, makes you wonder and think!

Keep it up namesister, you're on a roll.

I especially love your first, leading line, Mona!

And while I don't consider myself a "humanist", I do believe in people, and our fundamental goodness. We can do such awful things, but also so many amazing, grace-filled, courageous things... particularly when no one would expect it of us.

Thanks for making us all THINK. As always, your vision is very fresh and original.

beautiful, mona. i wonder how, if our bodies renew themselves every 7 years, how we still have the same scars (and metal, in my ankle!)...i mean, i know that the metal can't go away. but to think of the renewal thing, that just says that injuries scar more than just skin, don't they?? interesting thoughts!! i am not religious either, but definitely spiritual. i wonder how often trees renew all of themselves?

Mona, all the questions except the last are of the body - but a little pile of dust is not the truth of you. The soul is beyond time, for it is eternal.

Then you ask a critical question:

Is there hope
for renewal,
a clean slate,
a fresh start?

You are spirit - or soul, if you prefer - and this essence of you is love. This instant and every instant is a new beginning if you only look back with love at love; and the giving of love renews you, for what you give you receive - it is magnified because love is shared.

Yes, dear girl. You are continually the best.

Mona, this is a beautiful, intelligent verse that asks an age old question in a startling new way. I think regeneration is a gift that both finds itself expressed in the renewing of the mind as well as the eternal regeneration of the soul

tabula rasa? if only. the struggle remains...but the synthesis of which you speak is natures nod that the spirit can be renewed as well...in time...with patience...understanding....devotion....and discipline.

Fantastic, Mona. I believe each day there is hope for renewal. I pray for it each morning. I pray for a new start, a clean slate. That hope is the only thing that keeps me going.

Your blending of science with poetry? ~10~ !!!

Nice read. I wish this meant we'd never get wrinkles, or that we really did renew every 7 days.
Enjoyed reading this one.

this is a great perspective from which to ask your question(s). religious or spiritual or just humanness - it's an insightful questioning that comes from a thinking, feeling being.

as unpleasant as some of life is i like the fact that i believe in some way all that i do is written down in/on my soul - or contained there in some way - i like that record being there - it's accurate in ways that no other human could ever see or know - it's just me as i am or more accurately: as i have been - it is the me i have passed through. even the yuck stuff, i'm glad it is there, altho i hope i learn from it and choose better paths as my moments go on. spirit to me is different than soul. soul is the record - the recording. spirit is something i have some control and choice over. my spirit - how i choose to move through each moment is part of spirit. it is to spirit that i would turn to for that hope and renewal - so to get into answering - to responding to the question in the poem - which is what several comments have explored already - i'd say:

renewal: yes, there is hope of renewal - because i can see it happening all around me in the universe from the microcosms to the macrocosms - it is in cycles - every thing moves in cycles (which is why i suspect that death is probably not an end but just another stage in a cycle) - cycles of seasons and cycles of the body, cycles of planets and the universe and movements and change - yes cycles go on and on - that is renewal - that says to me yes this happens to all and in all things.

a clean slate: no, all that we do is and will remain with us, it does not become something that did not happen - so no it's there on/in the recording which we call soul. but what has been does not have to be the guiding force to what you become.

a fresh start: yes, every moment holds the key to what will become - that is the fresh start. the choice we make in each moment is up to us - so the direction we choose can be as fresh, as new, as we wish. the real power to me is to make choices to be and do as we wish to become. that is the state we are in with every moment - Becoming. so be and do as you wish to become - that is the fresh start we have in every moment.

great poem subject and way to express the question. cool.

awesome, awesome poem.

What do you mean this isn't a poem? This is ingenious!! But what deludes us into thinking we can start tabula rosa with memories engrained in our consciousness as you so brilliantly state? Yes, we can let go to some extent but forgetting cannot lead to complete regeneration. Fantastic poem!

Mona,
I have seen people go from a situation of grief, loss of faith to the other extreme-becoming icons of optimism and renewal . I believe there is scope for renewal, as long as our motives are to reach higher and higher, spiritually. Maybe the weathering of the soul, inspite of the body's story, is a clue to reach more and more within.
Body and soul may not go together but will and soul will.

No way I can adequately express my feelings about this lovely and profound poem. Well done, Mona!

Mona,
I love the juxtaposition of "Such a simple fact" with "Such a stifling concept." You drive home that the body is about simple facts and the soul is about stifling (at times and sometimes glorious) concepts. A wonderful and thought provoking poem. Yes, I said poem, despite your opening doubts and protestations.

Such a thought-provoking poem. To me "a clean slate" means that the soul would have to learn all the lessons of a lifetime over again, would have to make all the mistakes again. It is only through the weathering of time that we learn wisdom. And we can choose not to make the same mistakes again.

Mmmm so good! Your cool icon caught my attention which brought be to this writing. how wonderful!

Beautiful poem, I agree with Amy George totally, and I also want to throw 'sleep' to it, because we need time to sleep and when you get enough sleep, you'll feel better most of the time.

Mona... a very provocative verse of renewal and a soul searching along new avenues. A thoughtful poetry.

I've often wondered this myself.

In nature, my soul is always made new again.