Mind, Body, Heart
A poem about the whole person
A tingle travels
from the depth of your neck
down your spine,
sending a shiver that casts
a shadow on your buttocks.
You notice the dream
of her that awakened,
stirred, and released
magic in your mind.
It’s like turning on
the tap to your heart,
the edges of a flood
that inches ever closer.
You notice yourself
morphing into a star,
rolling thunder in
the galaxy.
One with the universe
you lay in truth
this night.
This poem was inspired by the concept of the Familiar Stranger by psychologist Stanley Milgram. In our world of social media networks, it’s easy to feel the presence of that familiar stranger with repeated exposure. In real life, we are more likely to say hello to that familiar stranger because our subconscious has already been in contact with them repeatedly in the past. With technology, anyone can become that familiar stranger or become a consequential stranger. These ties might be loose, but the encounters affects a person’s sense of belonging in the world around them. The “truths” reflected back at the person inspired by a familiar stranger’s encounters can be no less potent than other encounters. What would happen to a person to have only “short term” familiar stranger encounters and never really truly belong in the real world? This is how a person’s consciousness merges with the star, the universe, but never truly belong to the person. These are my thoughts. What are yours?
