Hoist me up the flame
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... by
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Hoist me up the flame
I. Entreaty
Hand the lantern up:
for long have I climbed
or thought to ascend,
yet stayed by your side.
Through wave of fancy,
tide-churn of nightmare,
summer, then winter,
you bid me to bide.
Here seasons change not,
shadow and light play,
all-rearranging
mind of the dreamer.
I am your lost thought;
breastbone and portal,
cleavèd by cold fate,
craving but one sign.
Gesture, and save me—
Ember me, raise me;
Hoist me up the flame,
for long have I climbed.
II. Reply
Sewn shut, and fateless,
words fail my pale lips;
limbs, too, betray me,
so shudder my steps.
O How I long to pass this torch
day upon day who flares and dims.
Touch of the wind, gleam of the sun,
you pale and fire the light of one
so desolate-joyful as I.
Beneath a silent sky—
Eloquent words and earnest mien
impotent, mar my mind,
and dull bright feeling's edge:
frail, myself I find.
For I am weak, through poesy:
in nervine bliss I dreamed
some apparition lovely—
she who spoke, or so it seemed,
knew, from up above me,
how the life of heaven teemed.
Each must have its mate;
united—by the flame:
—bright serendipity—
can cast no shade on me.
But lend to me my name,
adventure of the flesh:
risk, imperiled glee,
imperfect, in perfection,
in safe asymmetry.
How I long to pass this burden
and turn it to a gift
for her that called in darkness
to light this callous rift.
My longing, that lurched dynamo,
that impetus unwavering,
to feel, to see, to linger,
in warmth to ever dwell
was blazèd by the honest
expression of sweet purpose
I read upon her brow.
I could not find the courage
to speak, but stir my soul
as I pass her up the lantern;
I give through touch my whole.
She takes the sacred pyre,
then shackles mine are loosed
as flame impels me higher,
my throat becomes un-noosed.
.....
Original writing and art
by Daniel J. Pendergraft
.
Published to STEEM blockchain
on February 20th, 2020
.
Images created using
iterative compositing
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