First appeared in Samford University’s Sojourn Magazine (Fall 2012, Vol. XVX)
I do not fear the wild,
the ones who crave the next
breath of air.
I fear the tame of heart,
and how the flame
is only a puff of smoke,
and yet there are many.
I fear the leash
and its links that tether
to the rusted and frail,
to the worn and tired,
to the embers long
burned to ashes...
but am I only an ember,
sparked by the Creator
and given life by his very
breath of air?
Am I only destined to fade
into the dust as a fractal,
fading into the fragile geometry
that grows smaller with age?
I can barely grasp the dimensions
of all sides of reality,
and yet I ever so believed
that knowing all
would soften the fading,
the shortening of the line
that leads from beginning
to the end, the finite edge.
Critical errors are so easy
to come by.
So what is to become
of me, a mere flash,
passing and going?
Among the doubts, the fears,
and the haunting of mystery
and time,
one thing becomes clear:
I may be "only an ember",
but embers grow brighter
by the Source.
Only then will the night
shy away, bid farewell
to the ethereal shadow.