From where I dwell
In the sand, in the dirt
Where life begins
Created from
I look to the stars
And wonder when
I might touch their beauty
Find their glow
But I dwell
In the sand, in the dirt
Oh star, I have disappointed you
Oh star, why do you intimidate me so
Do you see my chaos from where you shine
To climb to you, I need a rope
I need direction and a little hope
Shine on me and guide my way
Lift me up to where you stay
Oh, to know that which powers you
Which would help me on my journey too
Energy that seems so hard to know
To get close, to reach, this journey is slow
But if I look up from my pit I just might see
The falling star coming down to me
© Ruby Neumann
Written October 20, 2020
Poet's Note:
I saw a falling star this morning while I was in the hot tub. It was that moment in the morning when the light was just starting to push out the darkness. I had my head down for a time and was feeling heavy, but in a moment, I lifted my head up to gaze on the morning sky, and I saw it. A falling star. It was the end of this poem. Rarely do I start at the end of a poem. But today, I did - with a falling star.
A little Enneagram insight:
I think I heard once that the Enneagram is better taught, not in books or seminars, but in poetry. And I ask myself… what does poetry offer that intellectual thought and exposition don't? Maybe it is perspective. Maybe through poetry, I can find a way to understand the complexity of the Enneagram through the lens of a Four. But since not everyone is a Four… I offer thought and exposition in the form of a Poet's Note!
This poem is about that elusive energy of the One. That's right. As a Four… the One is the path to integration for me. I am yet a novice to the wisdom of the Enneagram, but my path to integration is still a mystery to me. It's not that the One is unknown to me… quite the opposite. I have been around that One energy for all my life. It just seems unattainable for me, in my space. What does it look like for a Four to integrate. The books, the seminars and the videos on Youtube will tell me… but this morning, I wanted the poetry to tell me why I find that One as far away as the stars.
The falling star... is the One coming to Four in stress. Now some teacher's remind me that the move to our stress number is not always a bad thing. So maybe in that light... as a Four... I have something to offer the One... I, too, have a guide to help when the One needs a place to hide, withdraw to, or retreat to.
A little Poetry insight:
This might be the first poem I've written (and I've written a lot) that combines free verse and rhyme. Free verse to me symbolized the chaos of the Four. Rhyme to me is more in line with the order of the One. So the picture of the path of integration in poetry made sense to go from free verse to rhyme. I also chose a font change to further portray the difference and the change in energy.
