I did some research on Kahlil Gibran. I think that I know why my mother refused to let me read him. (besides her hatred of me reading). He was a popular author in the counterculture revolution of the 60s. Even though he died before then, his work spoke to the young and rebellious. I don't know why yet, but I am supposing that I will find out.

He immigrated to the United States with his sisters, brother and mother. He was Cristian-that came as a surprise; based on his name I thought he was Islamic. His father was in the Syrian government as a tax official but was arrested and jailed for corrupt activities by the Ottomon(sp?) government that controlled the area. The mother decided to immigrate to the U.S. and the father didn't join her. She had a brother in Boston. That is where they settled. Before immigrating, his education was sporadic. His grandfather (mother's father) was a priest and the local priests would stop in and teach him when they had a chance.

He attended a grade school in Boston, in special class for non-English speaking and came to the attention of his teachers for his sketching and artwork. He found a mentor and the rest is history.

This is a brief overview-I 'googled' him. And found out more than I could every want to know. There is a museum with artwork and correspondence in Savanah.

Now the review that I promised I would write.

This poem speaks to all of us. It is an internal cry to our soul and the work we do to satisfy it. If we are true humans and try to listen to our souls we become enslaved to them.

The poem is linked to the first essay in that it compares the soul to Beauty and light, the body to death and darkness.

Our bodies cannot keep up with the soul no matter how hard we push on. But yet, there is the hope that the soul will guide us there, the promises the soul makes to us in our youth that we want the soul to fulfill. And it never will; not while we live.