All The Doors Inside Your Heart

Another poem written in Alix Klingenberg's Poetry Circle.

It can be hard to “get” to the poem, to shape it and bring it into focus. Sometimes, after I have worked and worked a poem, I wonder if the original isn’t better even though it doesn’t “work” as well as the one I’ve reined in. Here I have included the original, an edit/slight re-do in prose form, and the poem I ended up with after pushing words around on the page for a couple days. Which do you prefer?

#1 ORIGINAL—

Go and open the door. Go and fall into the light that comes from the door go and open the body inside your body go and open the great wide lake of water go and open the stairs inside your mouth go and open the great length of cloud-shine and moon-shine and all the possible ways to become more of what you’ve always been becoming go and open your chest there’s a great store of greatness there a great wide heart full of hearts go and open all your hearts go and open each lock on the inside of each heart where a small box lies waiting for you to open it. Open it. It will be a door. A door in the air. Step through it. And fall into the next thing. And the next thing. And the everlasting next next thing.

Step out of your room, step out into the night. Its' so dark you wonder if the world will hold you. It will. All the willing hands in the universe will hold you up, all the hearts large enough to hold your heart will carry you. No night is so large that you will not be lifted. No night is so dark that we will not cover you with light. Now the world cups its hands around your ears. Now the world whispers, we will never stop catching you. We will never stop waiting for you on the other side.

#2 PROSE FORMAT (edited)

Go and open the door. Go and fall into the light that comes from the door go, 
go and open the body inside your body, open the great wide lake of water, 
go and open the stairs inside your mouth, open up the great length of cloud-shine 
and moon-shine, open all the possible ways to become more of what you’ve always been becoming, go and open your chest there’s a great store of greatness there, 
a great wide heart full of hearts, go and open all your hearts, go and open each lock on the inside of each heart where a small box lies waiting for you. Open it. Inside it will be another door. A door in the air. Step through it. And fall into the next thing. 
Its' so dark you wonder if the world will hold you. It will. All the willing hands in the universe will hold you up, all the hearts large enough to hold your heart will carry you. No night is so large that you will not be lifted. No night is so dark that we will not cover you with light. Now the world cups its hands around your ears. Now the world whispers, we will never stop catching you. 

# 3

All The Willing Hands In The Universe 

Go and open the door. 
Go and fall into the light that comes from the door.

You may be afraid, you may be weary,
but go now and open the body inside your body, 
open the great wide lake of water. 

Go and open the stairs inside your mouth.
Open the great length of cloud-shine and moon-shine, 
skate across the frozen ponds stretching everywhere 
and always throughout your body.

Open your chest with its everlastingly valiant heart. 
Open the box that lies waiting there.

Inside the box is another door.
Open the door.

Do not be afraid of this new world,
do not be alarmed by the appearance of the sky,
by the absence of land beneath it.

All the willing hands in the universe will hold you up, 
all the hearts large enough to hold your heart will carry you. 

No night is so heavy that you will not be lifted. 
No night is so dark that you will not be covered in light. 

Now the universe is cupping its hands around your ear. 
Now the universe is whispering—
we will never stop catching you.