Keepers of the Flame

I’ve happened onto a new process with poetry and I want to share what I’m learning from it. When someone finds a use for a poem of mine, I take that as a signal that the Universe wants me to pay attention to the poem myself, and to learn something new from it. Always there is something new. I may have had something in mind when I first wrote the poem, but other people see different things in it. And so might I in this moment. Things I’d not seen before. Here’s my most recent example of that practice.

My friend Rick Eigenbrod is convening a group called “Keepers of the Flame”, people who work with groups of CEO’s, creating a safe place for them to explore the challenges of their work. As part of the invitation, he sent out this graphic of my poem “Fire”. Credit for the beautiful design goes, with my appreciation, to Rick’s daughter Megan Eigenbrod.

As I’ve sat with the visual that Megan created, (and thought about the name of the group “Keepers of the Flame”) my mind shifted about my own poem. I’ve always seen the poem “Fire” as being about creating a fire, starting a fire, building the fire, laying the fire with space between the logs so that it starts up easily, catches with a single match. And as I write this, I’m reminded how much I like starting things, getting things going.

But to be a “keeper of the flame” is another matter—it means sustaining the fire over a longer time, giving it the attention and care that allows it to grow and develop in its own particular way— depending on the wood, and the draft. It’s not so much a matter of having a plan for tending it, as it is settling into the enjoyment of being with it, and providing a log now and again, when it’s called for. The idea that comes to me now is that to be a keeper of the flame, means to treasure, to enjoy and to simply be present to the fire. And to enjoy its warmth.