This Great Burning

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

There is something within you

that you have been

relentlessly containing

for fear that its emergence

will cause you to

ignite

like a martyred monk

on an empty sidewalk.

Here ~

swallow this match.

Each one of us must

learn how to burn.

To burn away:

Limiting beliefs

fears

anything that does not Serve.

To burn up:

Living our dreams

living our passions

for the gods’ sake, Living.

To burn,

As if we are the only holy book

that matters and every page

is inscribed with the still-wet ink

of Love.

I know that many of you,

those of you who courageously

converse through the ample language

of mystic bards,

remember The Burning Times.

That’s not what I speak of now.

No.

We will never set the world aglow

by burning each other in bonfires

of hate or rage or self-loathing.

Truth be told ~

In those fires,

it is ice that claims the

most souls.

Yes.

In this Great Burning,

the one I speak of now ~

In this Great Burning,

the fire must

spontaneously combust

from within.

You,

you the one reading this poem,

You are meant to enlighten.

~Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Sacred Reciprocity: Courting the Beloved in Everyday Life"