Thursday, June 30, 2011

A Brain, a Heart, a Home, the Nerve

A Brain, a Heart, a Home, the Nerve

Out of nowhere, we’re human,
and some need burns in us.
How do we find the fire,
and how do we know

to keep feeding it, to protect it.
Maybe we have many fires,
and only so much kindling,
so some flames flatten,

barely blackening what they used
to burn. How do we know
what we’re good at, is it
only that we are told

by others, or that our bodies obey
certain fires with movement.
There is fear around
our strongest fires,

that they will subside or wander
away, we will be forced
to refer to them as an
old flame, not ours

any longer. Or fear that the fire
in us will never match the
mountainous blaze so
surely in others.

Add to it anyway. Give it what
it wants. If it ever goes out,
so what. Find a new place
that can hold a flame.

8 comments

  1. Excellent advice in that last stanza.

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  2. This could be a marvelous addition to the #Trust30 project.

    I like the little play on "old flame".

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  3. I was thinking about just this thing yesterday while reading about some of the great artists and poets of the 19th century...how they lived such short, explosive lives and produced so much important work. I thought is there anyone alive now who can match this work in spirit, in passion? I actually think so many of us can. And if not, oh well. We get to live longer, we get to be human longer.
    Another beautiful, meaningful, perfect poem, Hannah.

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  4. I love the Wizard of Ozzy title, too!

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  5. How we do find/know? Determination in the face of uncertainty -- love it.

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  6. I agree with Maureen's comment.

    And this:
    "Our bodies obey
    certain fires with movement" -- a great closing stanza!

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