To Light the Dark

Across the miles
and hours of time,
we connect on lines
invisibly woven
throughout the earth.

I speak to you
in your sorrow,
to what is broken
and may never repair.
Our bodies are scarred
but wounds do heal.

To make the muscles work,
the nerves continue,
we build a fire of our construction,
release our designs to smoke and ash,
begin anew with an unmarked tablet.

Amidst the pain and grief,
the lost and never to be found,
there is this flame to light the dark,
to dissolve the way we’ve held the world
and guide us into tomorrow.

 

photograph by Patrick Orleman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 Responses

  1. Beautiful piece, Don, and nice to tangibly feel your optimism on your 70th birthday. Happy Birthday!

  5. I/We shed shed the layers of our human skins to continue our emergence into Grace ~ Thank You for Inspiring ⚡️⚡️⚡️

  7. Life continues to deal the cards we play, and you have beautifully captured our inspired response to that. Never quit.
    Happy Birthday, Don

  8. Don I don’t think you will ever know how this poem speaks to me at this moment in my life! Thank You and Happy Birthday, decided to open your poem as a tribute to your special day and it was like it was written for me….we connect on lines invisibly woven…thank you 💕

  10. Happy Birthday. May you enjoy many more in good health and sound mind.

    And may we continue to enjoy the blessings of your earthly presence.

    Thank you for this poem. It speaks to me of the sacredness of mourning…putting our grief into action, into response rather than reaction.

  12. I visited the Gilbert Islands in the central region of the Pacific Ocean, south of Hawaii via documentary film. Kiribati Atoll has a population of about 30,000, and self-governing. Scientists are predicting that it will be the first in the world to flood with rising sea–in about 2047. Just 29 years.

    “…there is this flame to light the dark,
    dissolve the way we’ve held the world
    and guide us into tomorrow.”

  13. Another exquisite step along the pathway, another one for the Ages. How I love your poems, Don. You give it all away so freely, and so it has all the more value to me, and in the world, because of these leaves falling along a river of generosity that endlessly flows. Thank you.

  14. A touching poem. The last 5 lines are especially potent! Thank you for your vision, my Friend!

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