What Does Your Soul Look Like?

By Ryan Mimna

I keep asking myself

If it’s the weather, but I know better
Oh, what thoughts are kept subdued?
What do silent souls scream?
Do they make a sound?

A language of pain
In the echoes of virtue and truth
A language of love
Often, we can forget ourselves

Or perhaps it’s the weather
Or ethereal dreams
What does your soul look like?

Author’s Note: This poem came out of revisiting old emotions and questioning whether the heaviness I felt was rooted in memory, chronic conditions, disturbed sleep, or the changing season itself.

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Ryan Mimna lives in Philadelphia and works in the finance industry. He served in the U.S. Army from 2011 to 2015 and, after completing the Ranger pipeline, served with 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, including multiple tours in Afghanistan. After leaving the Army, he finished a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he began writing and later turned toward poetry. For The Havok Journal, he writes reflective pieces and poetry, often centered on fear, meaning, and the inner life.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.