An Answer to the Call to Be Brave Enough to Be the Light
With admiration and respect of the powerhouse poet, Amanda Gorman.
If I were brave enough to be the light …
I would let go of my need to be angry, to be right, to feel justified, to feel entitled.
Yes, I'd abandon the pleasure I took in the indignant nature of my initial reactions. The impulse to
shout. To stomp my feet. To cross my arms. To open my mouth and let gossip and diatribes
spill out.
And yes, I know, I don’t have to always see both sides when
the other side calls for violence and derision. But to give oxygen to a voice
that tries to reason when there’s no desire to hear it deprives me of the fuel for
my own flame. And to feed the fire of their anger does nothing to warm those
left out in the cold.
To be the light, I have to tend my own fire. Instead of
agitation and the churning and churning of embers, I must gently stoke the flames
and stand watch to keep the sparks inside the circle. I don’t want to be
consumed by my own anger. I don’t want to be the one who rages out of control.
I want to be the signal fire. The cooking fire. The fire that invites the
gathering and the sharing and the communication.
So I reclaim my embers. I reclaim my oxygen. I reclaim the
fuel and the act of stoking. Fire can burn, yes, but it can also be what warms
us. What guides us. What calls us to gather together.
Yes. This is true. The light and the fire resides within all of us. Do not let the rhetoric we are hearing dowse your flame. For it is your flame, your light, your determination that these two poets are speaking to. The power lies with all of us. Small powers together can create a better power for all of us. I desire it. I want to live in a world where we give all people the same opportunities, education, healthcare and support. I love you both for inspiring us.
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