Listening to My Soul

I folded up the questions

And put them in the drawer

Beside the old receipts

I never read before

The kettle starts its whistle

A blue cup warms my hand

I hear a quieter answer

Than anything I planned

If I sit still long enough

The noise gives up its claim

There is a room beneath my worry

And it knows me by my name

I’m listening to my soul

Not the rush, not the role

Every honest little feeling

Pulls me closer to the whole

I don’t need to know

Every road before I go

I can follow what is steady

I’m listening to my soul

I called you from the bus stop

With rain along the glass

You said, “Take the longer way home

Let the hard day pass”

The bakery was closing

They gave me one last roll

Small kindness on a paper bag

A warmth I could hold

When I stop performing strength

My breathing finds its pace

The parts of me I left behind

Still save me a place

I’m listening to my soul

Not the rush, not the role

Every honest little feeling

Pulls me closer to the whole

I don’t need to know

Every road before I go

I can follow what is steady

I’m listening to my soul

Maybe wisdom isn’t thunder

Maybe it arrives like rain

Soft enough to miss completely

If I’m busy proving pain

So I’ll loosen every answer

Let the silence take its turn

There’s a compass in my chest

And tonight I’ll let it learn

I’m listening to my soul

Not the rush, not the role

Every honest little feeling

Pulls me closer to the whole

I don’t need to know

Every road before I go

I can follow what is steady

I’m listening to my soul

The kettle cools beside me

The morning starts to roll

I take one quiet breath

And listen to my soul