Sacred Flame

The smoke of burning oudwood rising toward the heavens amid embers of green cardamon, singed vanilla pods, black tea, tonka, and incense resins. I heard the spring wind whisper Above the brushwood fire, "The world is made forever Of transport and desire. "I am the breath of being, The primal urge of things; I am the whirl of star dust, I am the lift of wings. "I am the splendid impulse That comes before the thought, The joy and exaltation Wherein the life is caught. "Across the sleeping furrows I call the buried seed, And blade and bud and blossom Awaken at my need. "Within the dying ashes I blow the sacred spark, And make the hearts of lovers To leap against the dark." - Bliss Carman Art: Psyche Opening the Golden Box by J.W. Waterhouse, 1903 (cropped)