Eric Ashford's Preface to his book -- Speaking through the Opening

[Tom]

I was mightily impressed with a preface Eric wrote for its wisdom, as well as insight into Eric's view of poetry and spirituality.

I am taking the liberty of setting it out here for your benefit.

Preface to Speaking Through the Opening, Allowing Your Life to be Your Poem, by Eric Ashford, Palabras Press, 2005.

When I first saw the quote of Bokonon, "Let your life be the poem you write," (A black 19th century mystic/poet born in Tobago in 1891), I knew I had stumbled somehow upon the mystic meaning of the poetic and spiritual life. This revelation led me to explore my own soul-work, how as a poet, I could live my life through the poetry of my soul for each soul is, indeed, our own inner poet. The soul visualizes reality in symbolic images that are founded upon a language that does not need words at all, yet it translates that language for us into vision, experience and reason. It creates our reality from its own reality, and until we are in touch with its deeper meaning, we must be forever disconnected from how we see and interface with the outer world. Poets are everywhere; there is no one that has not the poetic ability to live their own poetic spiritual vision for we all have our inner poet to draw upon. Some of us actually learn the craft of writing poetry; others express their poetry in other forms of art; yet, all of us create and paint our self-image and our world view from the substance of our soul poems. It is our divine mission to envision the poems of our soul and express them in our ordinary lives, no matter what work we may be engaged upon. For we should all bring our own poetic ideal to everything we do in the world. Thus, we are all poets and we all "say ourselves" in the way we express that divine ideal in our daily living. This book explores in 200 poems, the many ways that we can become the poetic expression of our souls. It touches upon the highs and lows of this "art of living" that is our individual path to self-awareness. It is my hope that the readers will come to realize their divine potential to live optimally from the poetry of their souls--to live from a deeper source of their creative light--and come to know that this very life that we lead is the poem we allow ourselves to write.