Texas Prairie, Roaming Soul
As I sit gazing at the distant horizon of rugged Texas hills, I can’t help but wonder, what happened before. What stories are hidden here of long lost people and their lives. It inspired me to write this short poem:
Texas Prairie, Roaming Soul
Texas prairie, rolling hills, winding river and rugged breeze
Stories written, long past, oh what these trees could tell
Campfire blazing, sparks flying, crisp night falls upon
Brilliant stars, shining long ago, lighting up Mallard Lake
What souls have passed through these harsh lands of beauty
Lives lived with faith and pluck, no place for the meek to test luck
Lives lost, by snake, wolf or frost
What loves were found, causing souls to be bound
On the prairie, do you roam, golden grasses swaying
Forever seeking that which felt like home
Pheasants feeding in fields of gold,
the prairie whispers ancient stories untold
In a land that never forgets, you had a glimpse of the kingdom of Heaven,
May you be reunited with your brethren
This made me think about Plato's writing on the pre-existence of the soul in his dialogue "Phaedrus," in which Socrates discusses the nature of the soul with Phaedrus. Socrates suggests that the soul existed before it was joined with the body and will continue to exist after the body dies. He argues that the soul is immortal and that it is on a journey towards knowledge and understanding, which can be achieved through philosophical contemplation and the pursuit of truth.
He also suggests that the soul has knowledge that it has forgotten, which it can rediscover through the process of recollection. Socrates uses the example of a person who has seen a geometrical figure but cannot remember it, and then through questioning and contemplation, is able to recollect the knowledge they had forgotten. He argues that the soul has knowledge of eternal truths that it has forgotten, and that it can recollect this knowledge through philosophical inquiry.
How often do we go to a new place (or an old familiar one) and actually contemplate what went before. What was here before we showed up. What stories of lives and adventures are forever lost to the dust. Why are some remembered but most lost. Will ours be one that is remembered, and does it matter.
Socrates explains that, while gods’ horses are of good stock, everyone else’s “horses” are of mixed stock—one of the horses is noble and good, while the other has the opposite nature. “Perfectly winged” souls sail above the earth and govern the cosmos, but souls who have lost their wings fall to earth and take on mortal bodies. Socrates then offers a myth explaining how souls become wingless and the struggle they must endure to become winged again. His is a view I find quite alluring and optimistic. That our fate is not pre-determined and during our earthly time, one can strive for deeper understanding to once again gain those “perfectly winged” horses aligned with our soul.
If these are questions you might ponder, I would put forth that ones soul does remember the stories but our physical manifestation has to rediscover the lessons and truths. This is attainable, but not by going through the motions of just living your life. Rather, by sitting in silence, observing the world around us and just being, give us a unique portal to all the stories and truths that went before. Perhaps it connects us to what is to come. Regardless, simply acknowledging what went before, brings it to life in a way. I’ll never know the details of this ancient cowboys life, but alas his journey and his soul matter and perhaps live on in my poem and elsewhere.
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