There is a knowing

There is a knowing
In the body
That the mind can never fully comprehend.
And it baffles the mind to exhaustion
Why can’t I wrap myself around
that which is right here, just next to me?

And so it tires itself
Questioning, doubting, testing.
And still, uncertainty. 
Uncertainty. 
How uncomfortable uncertainty can be
For that part that believes 
Its job is to make all things known.

Yet, there is a knowing,
A different kind,
Of vast space chalk full of mystery
Of the constant surging nature of birth and death
Unstoppable.
A knowing to bow
To fathomless depths of ocean creatures and cosmic currents.
A knowing of shapeshifting forms 
Of how rock was once liquid-fire, once gas 
And that even it’s perfect contours are slowly being softened 
By the breath of wind and water,
Light and touch. 

A knowing that in drawing a line around any one thing
And naming it’s contours as such
What is lost is every visible and invisible relationship
That constitutes the essence of a thing, of all things
woven in dynamic wholeness.
(No wonder the mind is baffled)

There is a knowing 
In this body
That I never have been and never will be separate 
From all that is around me. 
A tug on my hip
Reminding me of those spirit mouths that need feeding
A catch in my breath
Grieving the loss of still more ancient forests 
A tingling in my spine
Reverberating  the whisper of an ancestor’s prayer
A ringing in my ears
Resounding the cry of those killed thousands of miles away.
A spark in my belly
Drawing me down to the earth where life is again renewing itself. 

There is a knowing 
that this faculty of thought and mapping 
Can serve, 
As an integral part of this body –
to design the revolution, strategize creative solutions, map relationships 
A faculty of magnificent capacity
As soon as it gives up 
Insisting on the supremacy of its particular form of knowing.

So, yes, you too are welcome to this revolution, 
Beautiful mind
You belong at this table.
I invite you to sit.
And wait.
for instructions 
From the parts of us that remember
How to listen
How to receive.

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by Sophie Cooper | photo by PyperA Flow