True North (Stephanie Corby)

I've always been drawn to the compass as metaphor - obviously, so have many of the musical artists with whom I'm familiar, as evidenced by the following song lyrics ("and you know, there may be more", as Joni sings in Cactus Tree... :-)
"Guiding a ship, it takes more than your skill
It's the compass inside, it's the strength of your will"
~ We Learned the Sea, Dar Williams

"In this world you've a soul for a compass
And a heart for a pair of wings"
~ Why Walk When You Can Fly, Mary Chapin Carpenter

"Not counting the unmarked paths of misdirection
My compass, faith in love's perfection"
~ Love's Recovery, The Indigo Girls

"But like a compass seeking north (seeking north)
There lives in me a still, sure, spirit part."
~ Compass, David Crosby

"i'm the ferdinand magellan of these parts
i'm just acting on a hunch
i'm following my compass in the dark"
~ Following My Compass, Kristen Hall

"That the north you find will be true
When there's no information
And the compass turns to nowhere that you know well"
~ Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot, Sting

"And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
Who invented roses?" [Susan's note: i.e., a compass rose]
~ What Do You Hear in These Sounds, Dar Williams

SONG: True North by Stephanie Corby

BOOK: Your Soul's Compass: What Is Spiritual Guidance? by Joan Z. Borysenko

POEM: Stepping Westward by Denise Levertov

What is green in me
darkens, muscadine.
If woman is inconstant,
good, I am faithful to
ebb and flow, I fall
in season and now
is a time of ripening.
If her part
is to be true,
a north star,
good, I hold steady
in the black sky
and vanish by day,
yet burn there
in blue or above
quilts of cloud.
There is no savor
more sweet, more salt
that to be glad to be
what, woman,
and who, myself,
I am, a shadow
that grows longer as the sun
moves, drawn out
on a thread of wonder.

QUOTE: "Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and the loadstone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They point to me." ~ Ayn Rand