Flame Bearer

Someone once called me a flame bearer

And I have to admit I like it a lot

It means I believe in realness

It means I believe in the beauty of madness

In a world of machine minds

And machine hearts

I believe in vulnerability

I believe in carrying a torch for the suffering

For the people who cannot rise

Above their self-imposed limitations

And for the ones who cannot help it

Because that is what realness really is

Its cracking open what society feels is right

And doing what is right for the spirit

We ignore the spirit these days

Like a plague

Like we are afraid of seeing something

That might hurt our fragile perceptions

Of ourselves

Walk with the poor, walk with the hungry,

The depressed, the angry, the unloved

Hold their hands through the fire

And call yourself a flame bearer too.