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JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America

0 posted 2010-11-05 12:01 PM



To prepare for this voyage,
this journey into the wasteland of my sorrows,
my desires, my eternal soul
I seclude myself in a Forest Tall.
My eternal soul.
Easy to say.
People say it all the time.
Eternal soul.
I'm not sure we even have a soul,
much less an eternal one.
As far as I know
no one has ever seen a soul,
some might say they have felt their own souls.
Not sure about that either.
Could've been indigestion.
As I prepare for my odyssey  
I withdraw into the Forest Tall,
concealed from sight,
listening to the soft screams of falling leaves.
What am I to do
here, out of my element?
Look for guidance,
direction and courage I suppose.
Instead of beseeching the Forest Fall for these skills
I go down on one knee and weep.
While in my sub-servitude posture
my tears dry upon my face,
turn into hard rock pebbles and fall from my cheeks
sounding like gentle raindrops
as they collide with reverence on the Forest Tall floor.
My hardened tears falling
soft as a whisper on the Forest Tall floor.
An omen?
Does that mean I have been forgiven,
and if so,
forgiven for which act unbecoming a civilized man?
I think not,
no, I believe I've passed some kind of test.
Understanding that,
I stood and followed where my feet took me.
Deep, much deeper, into the breadth
of my private jungle, the Forest Tall.
As I tread,
mindful of the chattering around me,
understanding, even answering
the denizens who lived where I had came,
unannounced, to visit.
They spoke to me
not as friends,
no,
they bid me leave their home, the Forest Tall.
I tarried,
unafraid, but mindful of changes within.
When, out of the blue a wind
frigid as Wyoming Winter
undressed my mind,
left it naked, indefensible
and I was unable to tell that
the world had taken on quite a different appearance.
Somber is the word, if indeed an appearance can be said to be somber.
Without conscious thought
my feet again began to walk
a deafening crack of thunder
shook the sky abbove,
and biblical torrents of rain assaulted the Forest Tall.
I stumbled blindly through the violent downpour,
breathing in quick gasps because this was rain like none before.
Noah's perhaps.
Holding a hand over my mouth
to keep from breathing in rainwater,
drowning as I walked.
When suddenly I found myself inside a structure tar-black inside.
There was no rain there,
but there were smells
so rank,
so putrid,
I turned to flee back into the choking rain.
I'd rather drown standing than smell my own rotting flesh.
No way out.
Entrance sealed off.
How could that be?
Someone giggled.
I felt a cold breath upon my neck.
The giggling stopped.
An old crone's voice shrieked,
This ain't yer grade school picnic, Charlie, my boy.


. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

© Copyright 2010 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
Eusta B. Mae
Senior Member
since 2010-05-03
Posts 903

1 posted 2010-11-05 12:17 PM


Another cliff hanger! You're killing me! But what a way to go...I'm likin' it. ebm
JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
2 posted 2010-11-05 12:36 PM


Haha! Thanks for the support, ebm. I'm doing these verses until I get my proof book back on Three Corners, and then I'll have to stop and get to work on it. Thank you for being here.

. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
3 posted 2010-11-05 03:33 PM


Love this most descriptive piece of writing, JerryPat! In between the story, however, there are the essential elements of "the journey".

I do believe in the soul.  Why else do we do things that seem so contrary to our own intent.  Maybe the soul is responsible for everything we experience on earth having, as it does have, its own agenda or its own means of growth.  The children?  Yes, they have souls too which may account for their traumas in life.  Maybe its not to teach us lessons but rather themselves - the soul, that is.  

Good luck with your book.

Helen

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
4 posted 2010-11-05 03:50 PM


Helen, I appreciate your thoughts on this subject. Everyone has their thoughts, as it should be. Some find the least resistance form of thought to soothe their consciousness and allow them to sleep at night.

But I aim to delve into it with both feet. I may come out bloody and beaten, but it isn't a game to win or lose, it is a mindset that needs to be settled once and for all, especially mine. this will not be much of a scientific or religious journey in the book, but it will resonate and cause people to rethink their own comfortable chunk of their thought process, that is if I am talented enough to write it the way it should be written.

Thank you again, Helen for your thoughtful words.

. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

ethome
Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada
5 posted 2010-11-05 06:30 PM


Aw I was never crazy about those grade school picnics anyway...

Great inner search Jerry.

You're the only one I know that escaped from Noah's Ark and lived to write about it.......

Imagination makes great writers dig deep and this is a good one.

As far as the immortality of the soul goes it's not really a Bible teaching.
Ecclesiastes 9: 5 states that the soul that is sinning will die and we all sin.
The concept was adapted by religionists over the centuries from Greek Mythology.

“There is no dichotomy [division] of body and soul in the O[ld] T[estament]. The Israelite saw things concretely, in their totality, and thus he considered men as persons and not as composites. The term nepeš [ne′phesh], though translated by our word soul, never means soul as distinct from the body or the individual person. . . . The term [psy·khe′] is the N[ew] T[estament] word corresponding with nepeš. It can mean the principle of life, life itself, or the living being.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 449, 450.

“The Hebrew term for ‘soul’ (nefesh, that which breathes) was used by Moses . . . , signifying an ‘animated being’ and applicable equally to nonhuman beings. . . . New Testament usage of psychē (‘soul’) was comparable to nefesh.”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1976), Macropædia, Vol. 15, p. 152.

“The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture.”—The Jewish Encyclopedia (1910), Vol. VI, p. 564.

“The Christian concept of a spiritual soul created by God and infused into the body at conception to make man a living whole is the fruit of a long development in Christian philosophy. Only with Origen [died c. 254 C.E.] in the East and St. Augustine [died 430 C.E.] in the West was the soul established as a spiritual substance and a philosophical concept formed of its nature. . . . His [Augustine’s] doctrine . . . owed much (including some shortcomings) to Neoplatonism.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp. 452, 454.

“The concept of immortality is a product of Greek thinking, whereas the hope of a resurrection belongs to Jewish thought. . . . Following Alexander’s conquests Judaism gradually absorbed Greek concepts.”—Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Bible (Valence, France; 1935), edited by Alexandre Westphal, Vol. 2, p. 557.

“Immortality of the soul is a Greek notion formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated by the philosopher Plato.”—Presbyterian Life, May 1, 1970, p. 35.


Sorry for such a long reply....Really enjoyed this piece you wrote here.

Eric

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
6 posted 2010-11-05 06:51 PM


Holy Cow, Batman! You have added to what research I already have started with this comment, and I wish to thank you very much.

I know I am dipping my toe in deep water here with this novel I have going on in my mind. I am not a learned man, got a few street smarts which allows me to separate the dung from the cream for the most part. But the whole idea of the book is not to delve into the theological question, at least not on a theological level. But I have a feeling I will be able to rise the the occasion and come up a God! for Dummies kind of book. We shall see, and I thank you again, now let me lift and paste into my notes what you have just given me.

. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

ethome
Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada
7 posted 2010-11-05 07:00 PM


What's really important Jerry is that you seem to enjoy what you do so much and although I don't know you personally it shows.

You know the old cliche, "find something you really like to do and you'll never work another day in your life."

I wish you the absolute best in your research and the book's success.

Write on!!

Eric

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
8 posted 2010-11-05 07:54 PM


Thanks Eric, and you can bet I like what I'm doing.

. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

Prasad Nataraj
Senior Member
since 2008-05-29
Posts 1149
Bangalore,India
9 posted 2010-11-06 01:28 AM


Fine writing again Jerry, enjoyed the read and many thought provoking words.

"Hardwork pays in the long run"

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
10 posted 2010-11-06 07:31 AM


Thank you, Prasad,I thank you very much for being here.

. . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$!

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