The Fire

It comes unexpectedly,
the fire,
the passion,
with a glance,
a smile,
the mere brush of hands
that have touched each other
a thousand times before.

But today,
this moment,
there is fire in it,
consuming,
rising unbidden,
desperately held in check

for there are things to do,
responsibilities,
decorum,
and yet….

About this poem.

You can read this two ways, because in a way, I was working on two poems, one based on the story of the Pentecost in Acts, and the other based simply on my own experience; and they somehow came together in this. Romantic passion. Passion for God. Both are not wholly of our will – they have a fire that comes from somewhere else. A mystery, beautiful and consuming.

The painting is a recent one, Fire of the Martyrs, part of a series of religious based paintings I continue to work on.

Tom