We stardust souls are eternal, yet needing a flesh costume to affect and interact in the physical world. So we subject ourselves to the death-rebirth trauma of being born, forgetting most of our knowledge and wisdom in the process.
Then we grow and learn what we can in a lifetime. Laughter and joy. Friendship. Hope and despair. Love and hate. Pain and anguish.
When the flesh grows weak and old, we die and remember everything from the beginning of time. Remember the reason we undertake life again and again. Only to once again choose the flesh costume. Hoping this time we’ll be able to awaken the flesh’s animal soul enough to impart some of our wisdom. Knowing that all we can hope to become, are messengers.
Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the center of all things.
© RedCat
Written for Prosery: Here’s the thing about existing at dVerse. Where we write prose, maximum 144 words, incorporating a line of poetry.
Tonight’s line is from a favorite poet.
“Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the center of all things? – from Rainer Maria Rilke, “Heartbeat.”
The world according to RedCat 
I love the thought of having such wisdom walking among us… it’s a pity that we still only manage to connect with words of the flesh.
This is absolutely stellar writing, Helene! 💝 The line by Rilke fits in so very beautifully with the mysticism and marvel of your prose piece. Especially love; “When the flesh grows weak and old, we die and remember everything from the beginning of time. Remember the reason we undertake life again and again. Only to once again choose the flesh costume.”
Thank you so much for writing to the prompt 💝
I love this: “When the flesh grows weak and old, we die and remember everything from the beginning of time. Remember the reason we undertake life again and again.”
I do want that to be true.
Luv your term ” flesh costume”
Have a good week
Much💚love
i like your description of our physical beings as flesh costumes! It really does seem that way! Well done Helene!
I echo what Merril said. The prompt line feels like a natural conclusion to what you wrote. Beautiful writing, Helene.
I feel like I’ve read this in another life ;) interesting take on reincarnation.
I love the wisdom of this, which reminds me of Wordsworth ‘our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.’ We’re not doing so well in our flesh costumes at the moment, but maybe there’s still hope…
So many of us poets here at the Poets Pub love Rilke and quite a few of us have taken this tricky prompt line and explored the concept of reincarnation in one way or another. I love the idea of eternal stardust souls who need a ‘flesh costume to affect and interact in the physical world’. What a cycle it is, in which we forget ‘most of our knowledge and wisdom’. I wonder what life would be like if we didn’t.
This is an incredibly wise bit of writing. I also was intrigued with ‘flesh costumes’ for that is what we wear.
“…we die and remember everything from the beginning of time. Remember the reason we undertake life again and again.” I like this thought on reincarnation. The prompt as the closing line worked beautifully here.