"Is the soul solid, like iron", Mary Oliver asks? "Or is it tender and breakable, like the wings of a moth in the beak of the owl?"
Is it guarded or vulnerable? is it penance or is it mercy? Retribution or forgiveness?
Is it a briar? Is it a thorn? Is it the scent of a violet trampled under foot?
Is it feathered? Something with wings? Or something with barbed-wire? Something with walls?
Is it a castle? A fortress? A stone amongst glass houses?
Is it frail? Or is it impenetrable?
It is both. It is neither.
It is.
Wonderful marrying of vintage & but of course “ Mary Oliver “ = classic ✔️