Noun:
1. The principle of life, feeling, thought and action in living beings, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable and distinct from the physical part.
2. The spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come.
3. High-mindedness; animating principle; the essential element or part of something.
4. Person (not a soul in sight) or personification (she is the soul of integrity).
Origin: Before the 12th century; from Middle English soule
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 1996.

From Kaddish, Part I
by Allen Ginsburg
For Naomi Ginsberg, 1894-1956

"...--Tho you're not old now, that's left here with me--
Myself, anyhow, maybe as old as the universe--and I guess that dies with
us--enough to cancel all that comes--What came is gone forever
every time--
That's good! That leaves it open for no regret--no fear radiators, lacklove,
torture even toothache in the end--
Though while it comes it is a lion that eats the soul--and the lamb, the soul,
in us, alas, offering itself in sacrifice to change's fierce hunger--hair
and teeth--and the roar of bonepain, skull bare, break rib, rot-skin,
braintricked Implacability.
Ai! ai! we do worse! We are in a fix! And you're out, Death let you out,
Death had the Mercy, you're done with your century, done with
God, done with the path thru it--Done with yourself at last--Pure
--Back to the Babe dark before your Father, before us all--before the
world--
There, rest. No more suffering for you. I know where you've gone, it's good.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15307

Genta is our MYKU Master of the Week.

Genta’s writes to unclutter her mind.

When asked why she writes, Genta said, "On a homebound flight from Italy, I began a letter to a friend about having spent hours resisting the urge to fall to my knees in wonder as I studied Michelangelo's David in the Galeria de Accademia in Florence. I'd never had such a spiritual experience as when beheld the sculpture bathed in light and flanked by the dark, rough hewn Prisoner sculptures. I struggled to express the exquisite beauty of those hours, and finally gave up in frustration. I cast about trying to come up with something else to write about and decided to introduce my penmate to some "imaginary friends" that had been bouncing through my brain for years but had never developed on paper. It was delightful, once I got over the absurdity of describing people who have never existed anywhere but in my head. I spent hours on that letter, but in the end, I ripped it apart and sent only the first paragraph--bland generalities about my voyage. I kept the rest of the letter, not having the heart to throw it out, but not knowing what else to do with it. I write in an effort to empty my head of all the thoughts crammed in it. Sometimes it works!"

Genta questions her world and those in it, “I like to know about people and what their passions are.” Some of her writing ability may be inherited. Her grandmother was a poet and columnist, and Genta is currently re-reading her grandmother's work. Of writing on mykuworld with the rest of the community of writers and poets, Genta commented, "The world is bigger than my little corner of it and I love use myku to probe for what's out there."

Just a few of our favorites from Genta:

Mr Mischief
Blythe Dallaire I know you're there
Impossible to miss
Your evil grin, your winking eye
Your sly and stolen kiss!

Fits and Starts
Have you ever regretted to love?
Have you ever been driven away?
Have you ever made peace with a pain you unleashed?
Have you ever not known what to say?

sour chef you chef
Garlic, lemon, butter, basil,
pasta, pepper,capers
Sounds too tempting to be left
Solely writ on papers.

All this dental/mother stuff
My mother wears a crown
I don't wish to inherit.
She crosses bridges and canals
But me--I couldn't bear it!