Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Heart Chakra” by donalee Moulton, part of the League’s Fresh Voices program.

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Heart Chakra

By donalee Moulton

More than merely to the left of lungs.

More than mere muscle mass.

This is centre stage –

spiral of chest, ribs, spine;

bridge between

bodily needs

and spiritual quests, however small

or intermittent.

Joy resides here.

On a good day/week/life,

you’ll find this place when you see green,

not with envy or garden prowess,

not with gooseberries or gills,

in moments when the air is still, when the blood beating through your body,

stops.

You find it here watching some random kid walking,

Eyes half shut/ Adidas unlaced

Gliding an imaginary bow across an imaginary violin

With the passion of Paganini,

And you hear the music.

You find it when a giant cockroach skittles

across a wall and you hesitate,

awed for a spilt second

before you lift the heel of your boot.

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Copyright © donalee Moulton

donalee’s poetry has appeared in Arc Poetry Journal, Queen’s Quarterly, Canadian Literature, Prairie Fire, The Dalhousie Review, Atlantis, The Antigonish Review, South Shore Review, Carousel, and Whetstone, among others. She is also a former publisher and editor of The Pottersfield Portfolio and editor of Atlantic Books Today. She is the author of the book The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say. donalee lives in Halifax happily surrounded by family, friends, pets, and words of all shapes, sizes, and syllables.

Fresh Voices is a publication and workshop program created by and for the League’s associate members.

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