tiny lights, don’t wear ‘em out
Image from Mumbai Mirror
It’s been a struggle to find inspiration. I want to blame the state of the world right now, but even without that there’s been plenty of personal heartache, loss, and grief all around me, and in me, to blame. But instead of waiting or blaming I decided to push something out now even if it’s small. Or better yet, because it’s small. There’s only so much we can take at times, and sometimes the best things are better digested in small pieces. I remember when I was pregnant and I couldn’t keep anything down. The doctor said I couldn’t eat until I stopped throwing up, which was not helpful and not happening. Luckily a kind and knowledgeable friend came over who fed me 1 tablespoon of water and 1 bite of a saltine every 15 minutes for hours until I could keep it down and deal with the fact that I was actually starving. We then raced to a place where I could get 2 meaty pieces of buttery grilled salmon and a large peach milkshake, and I licked up even the extra they brought in the frosty silver mixing cup on the side. And as long as I kept eating every 15 minutes for the next 9 months (once an entire party platter of shrimp without even sitting down) I was fine.
I suppose that’s where we all are- having to find inspiration in pieces, or where it may be scarce, or buried, or small until we can gulp from a fuller cup again. So I went back to the roots of why I started this website. It came out of my wanting to see the light in myself and everyone else. That is what matters to me. It’s about something seemingly small that is such a big deal…
A Tiny Light
Tiny lights could easily dissolve into
buzzwords full of hot air and smoke.
But look at them bend trunks their way
without a touch, glide silently through cracks
smoother than water, coax a seed wedged
under concrete to grow anyway,
To flicker through blackouts easily missed
if we let our clouds overshadow them.
What some might see as coming straight
from above some would label blasphemy
which would either make us fan them or
try to snuff them out.
The only thing left in our guts when
everything else falls away, deserving
to shine greater than reflections in
calendar collections, worthy of grand
poems and babies’ night lights.
One pure narrow beam could make a
wildfire or sparks to warm a heart.
The one thing illuminating our
shadows. The presence waiting
deep inside us. The glow
in all our windows.
dena parker duke
from Tiny Lights (see books)
May we shine on in spite of everything.
You can find me at “A Tiny Light” (My Facebook Page).
