Confetti

Flames and Resurrection

A poetic ode to the human grief and loss from recent fires-
A prayer for comfort and light, honoring the collective memories that fall down around us in ashes,
as though they are confetti from a celebration of life.

Another day, that I awoke
To ashes falling, looming skies of smoke
Sprinkling my hair and my eyelashes
Down from the clouds, around fall ashes
They’re telling everyone to stay
With masks, inside, windows shut, locked away
Air heavy with poisonous particulates
Raining down, in tiny bits
Tainting crops, water and soils
Fumes of batteries and plastic oils

Fires rage, the evacuation bell rings
“Grab your loved ones and flee, all the rest are just things!”    Just things…

By now, most are aware, of simplicity’s tale
That attachment to material, stitches an illusory veil
But can anyone say, even the Buddha himself,
That there is nothing worth sentiment, which sits on a shelf?
Aren’t there charms which hold meaning, handmade treasures from the heart,
Love poured onto paper, or a young child’s art?
We all can be grateful, we’ve all heard that ballad
But to grieve objects lost, is that entirely invalid?
There’s an energy of love in so many creations
Symbolic reflections of feelings and relations…

Yes… just things… burning, crumbling, wilting, exploding! … into a tornado, swirling around and around, up and up, lifting each and every particle of those beloved belongings up away and into the clouds!!!

Grandma and Grandpa’s bundle of love letters,
Needlepoint and hand knit sweaters
Birthday cards, once read aloud,
Their sparkling eyes that were so proud
Sweet misspellings and backward Bs
Colorful, stick-figured families
Trophies and ribbons, of achievement
And other collections, those of birth and bereavement
Photo albums, long since looked through
Pages torn and yellowed, with chipping glue
Knicks knacks from a brave endeavor,
Across the ocean, hearts changed forever
Grandpa’s stool, by his hand crafted
The old house plans that together we drafted
The t-shirt from that concert, with your best friend,
When life felt like, it would never end
Painted handprints from little hands,
Collected shells from far off lands
In this moment, a thousand moments burning
Into a union of smoke, one collective memory they’re turning… 

Heat!!! exploding energy from each and every one of these memories’ symbols
chemical bonds disassemble
shattering illusions of borders, reorder illusions of orders
Chaos of swirling elements, lifetime remnants splinter, blustery like a blizzard in winter.
Swirling and twirling, a lifetime’s concoction, they are calling a toxin,
destruction it locks in, imminence, no compromises,
heat synthesizes rising smoke of burning treasure, without measure
These objects created with love, channeled from a higher power above,
Received with gratitude, gifted with an attitude, one of pride
Gathered with curiosity, sparking luminosity, enthusiasm swirling,
Twirling, a thousand moments, a million moments, all rising to the skies before our eyes.

The salt from a fallen tear on a love letter, dried up, sublimation, solid to gas with no middle state, evaporate, love in that letter, matter burning, swirling, twirling, rising
Figments of raw imagination, pigments from a child’s finger painting contemplation,
Exhalation of color into this twirling pinwheel cloud,
Like a shroud smoke billows, from the blaze, feathered pillows on which a maze of dreams unfolded, unmolded destruction of creation and a rebirth of energy from its foundation.
Objects meet their physical conclusion in this fiery illusion, changing form, release, rise, into the skies

Heat bending dimensions, channeled forms of consciousness manifest, hatchling flying from the nest, “I love you, Mom”, bow-tie from prom, To do lists, souvenirs, a thousand reflections in shattered mirrors, underlined pages of books on your shelves, burning, so many stories left unread, some titles in your head, which ones, that photo of you, the albums, mix tapes, radio playing our favorite song, press record, come along, it’s ours forever, you and me driving with that melody playing, perfect moment, setting, swirling, twirling, up, up, uplifted, rising, the written journal entry of your birth, rising, burning, moments, becoming thousands, millions of moments, burning, releasing, swirling, rising, releasing, Combining… The floor on which you took your first steps, burning, first baby baths evaporate forever, rising, swirling, twirling, costumes from Halloween, postcards from jungles green, the houseplants, wilting, burning, popping, crumbling, the piano, the instruments, crackling together, vehicles of channeled melodies now silently releases, rising un-played pieces, practice tears, performance fears, determination, pride and frustration, elation, rising all together as one hovering cloud…
We all look up, together, and witness this historic weather.

And as I sit from afar, from where the fires are burning
A prayer sent for your grieving, inside me is yearning-

As you mourn the loss of your space, your homes and the memories from within, our hearts cry with you. We all look to the clouds and we see your suffering. We hold space for you in our hearts, we ache for you, our fellow humans, all brothers and sisters across this great land. We acknowledge that life will go on… but with a depth, sincere and compassionate, we honor your loss. 

We grieve with you, wish to lessen your pain
As your collective memories fall down around us like rain
And though I stay inside, and I heed the sirens’ calling
I sense something phenomenal from the sky is falling
The thin residue of cinders gathering on my leaves
I feel the warmth and excitement of your past Christmas eves,
The film painted on my windows from soot up above,
I will think of letters and ink and your grandparents’ love
With the orange-red setting sun, throughout hazy spaces
I’ll hear echoes of birthday singing and smiling faces
Spider webs glowing with ashes, like gossamer sails
I’ll envision matrimony’s first kiss as the future unveils
Instead of breathing in toxins that do our lungs harm,
Inhale creativity, adventure, love, intention and charm
The ash is still falling, downward and steady
A celebration of time, bursting forth like memory’s confetti
Belongings and gifts, outside any measure
Gathered snowflakes of collections and all of your treasure
Moments stirring around us, radiating abundance to brew
All the finest ingredients, like an Italian grandmother’s stew
Your irreplaceable moments, that went up in a broil
They are taking new form, fertilizer to our soil.
I see your ash as a reminder, from your fire-stricken dissection,
Of love carried on the wind and our human connection.