Fire

One day in practice
Mind quiet
Body still
I sensed a flame
Burning deep within

As I turned
My mind to it
It rose
And rose again
Into a mighty fire

Startled
I turned away
Tamped it down
Put it away
Returning to my quiet

And in that peace
I lingered on
Though I began to notice
In the mirror
Behind my eyes

The fire, still, did burn

I saw it too
In the eyes of others
In some a fire
In some a candle
The rest, it barely smolders

But I remember one
From long before
The blaze she turned on me
Whereupon I fled
It was too much to see

Her fire had startled me

Today I sit
In quiet mind
And seek the flame within
Not to snuff it
But to fan it

I’ll stoke the fire that’s me

I cannot gaze
Into the hearts of others
And hold their soulful flames
Until I’ve held my own glory
And learn to stoke the blaze