she wants to stretch
just a little past body.
the old religious did it
with mortification
fasting and no sleep,
praying for days
awaiting illumination,
their substance
translucent
ecstatic, the divine
translated the way sun
flows through a window
where flesh is the glass
all we see is that light
not what allows it to pass
through it, through
states of permeability
beyond silence and celibacy,
past prayer
into hunger & pain
simply to open
that mystic core
Susan Daniels Poetry 
Very evocative and great use of imagery and religious allusion. You are the High Priestess of the Church of Poetry.
Oh, my–thanks 🙂
Truth be told, I am more a celebrator of the flesh than a mortifier of it.
Wonderful! I love how you can write so well about so many different subjects. I adore your writing.
S, thanks so much–the adoration of writing is mutual!
Aww… Thank you! I’m having a bit of a confidence crisis right now. Sigh. Thank you though!
Oh, you so should not–just keep writing.
Thanks, Susan… I hate my writing today.
I am not happy with mine 97% of the time, to be honest…
😦 Well, you should be… I think you are a very talented writer, I am not the type to just throw around compliments. You are great!
Oh, gosh–thanking you. The only time I really like what I write is when I bust my butt on those duets with Noel–he kinda makes me up my game a little, lol.
Well, I enjoy both your duets and solos. Part of me feels like giving up.
Oh–don’t you do it–you have such a wonderful, beautiful, creative voice–I love it.
Mmm, yes, the way sun flows through a window. The divine unencumbered, illuminating all that is and was, while mendicants wander and imams preach and dervishes whirl in moments of pure ecstasy, like spinning poles connecting the Haq — the Truth — with the realm of material being. So many ways to see through the window of being. And yet for some reason, there are still so many out there who insist on only one. Only one right way. Such a shame.
It is a shame, and George–I love your comment–it is so beautiful and so true. If only we would not limit ourselves to one truth, and celebrate its many faces, we would be so much better off for it.
where flesh is glass. great line followed by translucency. that’s our natural self – brightness, but with religion, i think it stifles it and invites darkness, because of a set of conditions. by all means, this is a feel of how i feel as well.
Don, I do believe religion can provoke darkness, whereas faith brings out the light in us, if that makes any sense–and that is my personal take on it 🙂
really like yours.
i agree with you. faith is separate. it’s a personal walk and not a following walk. nicely said susan:)
Thanks, Don.
Very deep thoughts poured here … loved it 🙂
Thanks much!
Windows and light and illumination, oh my. 🙂
What in fact illuminates us takes countless forms, as many as our current collection of humanity can conjure, each related to our ability to comprehend and relate.
Curiously, some who ensconce theirs in codified ritual project it with insistence at others. They busy with the carrier wave and forget the message meant for transport. In their exuberance, or perhaps with some need for dominance, they miss its essence. None need broadcast something so abundant, for we all carry the capability to tap what exists in everything around us.
Yes, it takes as many forms as what we worship, and still more than that. That something so personal, so rooted in mysticism would be forced on another in a rigid belief system is criminal and misses the point entirely.
So true. Is it so hard to comprehend what works for me might not work for you? Look past its shape to what it advocates. Respect others, respect ourselves, respect the world around us is a good start.
Yes, Nelle. However, what you propose (common sense) is an alien thing to most people. People whose motto seems to be one of “only my beliefs count, only my tribe’s values, etc.” Shame,
Wow! Very evocative!
Oh, thank you. A conversation with a blogging friend triggered this one.
You captured what some are captives by~wonderful !
thanks so much, Deb!