What The Soul Must Touch
Everyone must leave something behind. . . Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die. —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
My soul will be very confused.
Will it have as hard a time settling as I do now?
Ray must not have been old and lived a long and creative life when he wrote about what the soul must touch
or
he would have known that was a ridiculous thought.
Imagine the confusion of old age having to focus on one thing,
or
Shall I,
the soul will have to ask,
break into millions of tiny pieces so that I will be able to enter each thing touched over the decades?
or
will my soul have a wait and see attitude till after I die
to see who picks up one thing or another and then settle in on the piece a loved one carries off with a part of me with them?
All the rest of the touched stuff will kindly get hauled to the curb empty of my soul never haunting the poor person that rummages through it simply wanting to pick a thing or two they can use guilt free.
9 thoughts on "What The Soul Must Touch"
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I agree– Ray missed the mark. My grandmother would have chosen her silver, but I chose her books!
I love how you took that Bradbury epigraph and gently turned it inside out. The image of the soul having to break into millions of pieces or waiting for a loved one to carry something off is both playful and unexpectedly moving. Really sharp and enjoyable.
I love what the previous two poets said. I like how you extended the length of the poem. Excellent!
…break into millions of tiny pieces so that I will be able to enter each thing/ touched over the decades?.
“the piece a loved one carries off with a part of me with them”
this line and poem…so good
Oh !yeah I’m just going to echo Linda’s
“…break into millions of tiny pieces so that I will be able to enter each thing/ touched over the decades?”
Ha! Delightful comic response to this serious topic. Believe me, Laverne, your soul will know exactly what to do.
Clever and delicious response!
“All the rest of the touched stuff will kindly get hauled to the curb empty of my soul” – love!
I echo all above me.
The opening question is brilliant, sets up a delightful commentary throughout.
Fahrenheit 451 and the reversal of the role of a fireman opened the eyes of readers to the burning of books.