Working with Deborah Koff Chapin’s Soulcards

BLACK MOUNTAIN UNDER A REDYELLOW SKY

Image Swimming: Day 2 of 60

Image Swimming is a term I invented for a series of literary meditations inspired by visual work — in this case, the work of Deborah Koff Chapin, creator of Soulcards. I’m using the cards from Deck 2. Please visit https://touchdrawing.com/ for more on this transformative process.

Image from the “Soulcards 2” deck, used with permission from Deborah Koff Chapin

Seen one way:

In the bowels of a black mountain with
treacherous paths running along its edges, paths
that, in places, crumble away into bad, steep drops,
the earth pulsates with tenderness and presence.
This black mountain of my life, layered
with reckless commitments and unlikely outcomes,
blooms precarious and invincible in the gaze of
a mothering spirit breathing oxygen through all my tasks,
her mysterious mudras moving strangers to return
my fallen wallet to me.

Seen another way:

This could be every moment I abdicated,
everything I didn’t say that I need to say,
every opportunity I didn’t believe was mine
and so it found…