In days of olde, when fire was the source of what heat and light there was, villagers would gather on the commons, where a huge fire would be burning. Someone from each household would take coals and embers from the communal fire back to their houses to light their own hearth fires. Perhaps our poems are like that. A community of souls, we come to read each other's words, and take away what light and warmth we find to strengthen our minds, comfort our hearths, and inspire our own poems. Together, we hold firmly onto light and hope, to withstand the outer darkness. We fortify our own and each other's hearts.
Our poems, as kindling,
stoke other fires, other hearts,
and we all stay warm.
for earthweal: Kindling from the Forest of Light and Shadow
A resounding 'amen' from me ......
ReplyDeleteTis true enough. Happy to take the warmth on offer here and offer some in return.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a bit of poetic warmth. I shall sleep well this night, I hope.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful, beautiful thought.. you certainly provide so much warmth and light with your poems! Thanks Sherry!
ReplyDeleteIt is so easy to forget the commons that was drowned by suburbia and vast ownership -- we all freeze from all the indelicacies of our separate existence. How good it is to share our kindling and gather round this fire. Thanks for all you've done to spark it, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, in the suburbs of Chicago, that most concreted, urban and "modern" of places, the city had a bonfire--a huge one--every Halloween in the parking lot of the junior high school. I have no idea if that still goes on, but I never missed it, perhaps because I was looking for what this haibun offers--the warmth of sharing at the communal fire our most important, most uniting thoughts and feelings. Just lovely, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteIt's true Sherry--we nourish each other with our words.
ReplyDelete